


Against the Rest of the World

by bluebell_84



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Explicit Language, Graphic Description, Liam Payne/Zayn Malik - Freeform, M/M, Minor Character Death, Racial slurs, Rape/Non-con Elements, World War III, harry styles/louis tomlinson - Freeform, possible semi-happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:29:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4172922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebell_84/pseuds/bluebell_84
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The One Direction boys were set to perform in Detroit when the apocalypse started. Now they were stuck in the city hungry, homeless and alone in a world under the heaviest of threats ever - World War III. Their only wish is to get back home to UK, avoiding being caught by the Awakening Army ruling the America now. New and old feelings get in the mix with the struggle to survive and stay alive. Their love and friendship will be tested under the cruelest of circumstances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a work-in-progress story, so I don't have a complete picture of how I am going to end this or where exactly it's going. But I do know that it's going to be very graphic in some instances and rape is gonna happen, so you're warned! 
> 
> I might add more tags on the go, because at the moment I myself don't really know what's gonna be included in the story. But I do tend to write quite explicit and gruesome things, so just know that in advance. Also, I might go for a somewhat semi-happy ending, not sure yet. I'm 99% sure I won't kill any major characters, but if I would happen to change my mind, tags will be added! 
> 
> Also, I don't hate any countries!!! But the setting of the story is World War III, so obviously some of the countries will have to be baddies in this story! At the moment I haven't decided on that yet, I'm hoping I might be lucky and avoid naming them precisely, but if I have to, don't flame me. It's all a work of fiction! ;) 
> 
> I'm not a native speaker and I don't have a beta, so there might be some spelling or grammar mistakes. Feel free to point something out if it's really necessary! :) 
> 
> Finally, I'd like to say that I'm new to the 1D fanfiction fandom, but not new to writing fanfics. I really hope my story will find readers and all the comments and kudos will be sooooooo loved! ^o^

 

Liam was certain it was the first day of summer. He knew how many days exactly passed since the world came to an end - it was exactly 126 days and that made this morning be the very first day of summer. Of course, world didn‘t end, that‘s just how Louis once referred to that horrible, chilling to the bones day, but Liam had to agree with his friend there – it did feel like it was the end of the world.

Liam glanced through the gap in the wooden planks of this barely standing, half-broken shack they were living for the past two months and all seemed calm. He heard the calm united breathing of four of his friends and closed his eyes for a moment longer.

There was no more point to stall, he knew. They had to get moving. And it sent a cold fear down his whole body even thinking about that.

Miraculously this night he didn‘t dream of piles of bodies in the stadium, girls as young as 8 lying motionless, starring at nothing with glassy, unseeing eyes. He didn‘t dream of Louis climbing over bloody corpses towards the VIP seating area in search of his mother, stepfather and six siblings. And he definitely was relieved to be spared of seeing Louis discover them one by one, hysterical with grief and shaking so much he wasn‘t even able to stand up for a long time afterwards.

Not that Liam can ever forget the heart wrenching inhuman sounds that escaped Louis’ mouth that night. Sometimes he has nightmares just about that and even though he wakes up and tries to shake them off, after falling asleep they just continue from where they stopped.

Liam sighs and opens his eyes.

„Can‘t sleep?”

Liam jumps a little and turns to look at the voice, even though he recognized it and knew nobody sneaked in into their little hideout.

„Sorry, didn‘t mean to scare you” Niall was smiling sheepishly at him, lying on his back.

„Not anymore” Liam answered.

„Do we still have any breakfast today?”

„There‘s tea and some –“

„Don‘t tell me canned beans!” Niall cried in exasperation.

„Well, then don‘t ask” Liam laughed quietly.

Truth was they were lucky they had that at all. They raided an abandoned gas station a couple of months ago. It was empty and seemed abandoned and they almost left, but Niall spotted a lock behind one of the cupboards and they managed to break down the door. They found a small dry store full of canned food, mostly beans and tuna. They stole all of it, needed four raids back and forth, but it was worth it. So far, rationing the food they managed it to last them for two months. But the supply was drying out now.

„Remember when we found that vending machine?” Niall asked dreamily. „All those Snickers bars...”

Niall ran his hand through his unevenly dyed blond hair. It wasn‘t surprising that when they went to look for food, Niall always found blond hair dye just lying around scattered around the shelves. That wasn‘t a necessity and it just lay abandoned. Liam guessed that dying his hair blond was a way to pass the time for Niall and the only thing resembling normalcy that Niall could find, the only thing that remained from their life before. So he didn’t begrudge this to Niall. And he cut Harry’s hair when it got too long with small, rusty pocket knife that they found in this shack. He cut all of their hair except Zayn’s who, even in this hopeless situation, tried to keep up his flawless looks. That was Zayn’s way of coping with things, Liam gathered.

„Yeah, good times...” Liam said, his gaze slipping over Niall to Harry, then Louis and lastly Zayn. They slept on the floor, the only thing that softened their nights were some cardboard boxes laid on the ground. They did manage to find some sheets and clothes and they managed to make something resembling five small blankets for them out of that. It still was far better than sleeping in the sewers and the basements the first two months. He still was sometimes amazed how they managed to come out alive from all of it. It was cold and wet and they barely had any food or water. Niall got sick four times, Zayn sprained his ankle and had a concussion trying to get them food and medicine, Liam himself barely managed to avoid being shot – all he remembers is seeing a man in a red uniform and he ran for his life, shots hitting all around him and under his feet, one bullet scraped his thigh, but he never stopped – Harry a constant silent presence patiently helping all of them and never complaining. And Louis... Well, for the first few very long weeks Louis was a dead weight to them, stalling them, keeping them back, not being in their way, but also not cooperating, not making their escape from the city easy or quick.

In fact, they couldn’t run away like that at all, so they hid as best as they could, trying to find the warmest places to sleep in the cold February weather, but none of them knew Detroit and it was survival at its most cruelest.

„What’s on your mind, Liam?” Niall asked, noticing the somber look on Liam‘s face.

„We’ll talk after lunch.”

Niall nodded reluctantly, still looking and Liam. He knew what was on his friend’s mind – it was on all their minds – but he hoped they would delay it, not talk about it just yet, not just yet.

„Right, ok” he said instead and got up quietly to go for a morning wee.

***

They sat inside the shack in circle around a small, already dying fire, sharing two cups of tea which they passed to each other and three cans of cold beans. Niall was chewing them with distaste, but it was a sight they all were used to by now. They were just happy they had food at all.

Liam was already done with his portion and was just sitting with a metal cup of hot, bitter tea in his hand, passing it to Zayn from time to time when he wanted to wash the cold beans down.

Harry was sitting close to Louis, holding a can in his hand and sharing one fork with Louis. They took turns eating, one bite each and sipping tea that Niall passed to them. Harry had his hair in a tight bun as always, his white shirt still the same from 126 days ago, the same one he wore to a show that night, the same one that got stained with Louis family‘s blood and couldn’t‘ be washed in the cold water. The same one with a bloody print of Louis’ palm.

Louis was starring at his hands on his lap and accepting the fork Harry passed to him after each bite. He desperately needed a shave, but all they could do was try cutting some of the longest hair out with he same rusty pocket knife. The other boys spend hours trying to shave their faces clean, but Louis didn‘t seem to care. So he was left with the longish unkempt hair and stubble on his face. He huddled into a hoody Harry found in the rubbish and washed thoroughly. His jeans were black, but bloodstains that didn‘t wash could still be seen.

Louis was a quiet presence these last few months, but at least he started talking, started moving, started helping out with the food. The very last time Niall got sick and was constantly coughing and shivering under the thin blankets, was the first time Louis got up by himself and stayed next to Niall the whole time, trying to warm him up, getting him water and trying to help him get better, even though there wasn‘t much he could do.

Since then it was almost two months. Two months of having all of the boys more or less not falling apart anymore.

Harry took the last bite of the beans he scraped from the can and put the can on the ground. Niall passed him tea and Harry took a large sip then passed what remained of it to Louis, but Louis just shook his head. Harry offered it to Niall, but Niall declined as well, so Harry finished the tea and put the cup next to the can as well.

„I want to talk to you, guys” Liam slowly said, lifting his eyes and looking at his friends.

Harry turned to him questioningly, but Louis kept his eyes on his hands resting on his lap. Niall just nodded and Zayn eyed him for a moment, returning back to stare at his tea. Liam knew the same thing was on all their minds for the last few weeks.

„We cannot stay here longer” Liam said. A simple fact all of them knew.

Food was running dangerously low. The only thing they had plenty was water that they got from a small sink in the shack. The tap in the sink was miraculously still working. They were fine now, safe from the danger of freezing to death, but summer was not eternal and winter would be upon them again. And luck might run out one day as well – they were so fortunate that nobody ever stumbled upon them in these two months they’ve been hiding here, mostly because this half-broken shack didn’t look like a shelter from the outside at all. But how long was it going to last?

The five of them knew all that and Liam didn’t need to explain. There was something else he had to explain instead of that.

„What do you suggest?” Harry asked tentatively.

„I suggest we head east to New York.”

„You have any idea where it is? How to get there?” Harry asked.

„It‘s in the East, Harry” Zayn said. „We just head that direction and we’re bound to stumble upon some road signs.”

„Isn‘t that dangerous?” Niall asked quietly. „I mean, walking on the road just like that.”

„I suppose it is...” Liam said reluctantly.

„But we can‘t just sit here” Zayn said. „At least we need to know what‘s happening in the world now. Maybe it‘s better, maybe there is a place we can go to get deported back to UK. Maybe now things are not as... chaotic as they were. They might let us go back. Or maybe we‘ll get lucky and find a working phone, anything that could help us contact our families back home, ask for help.”

Liam nodded.

„Seems like you and Liam talked it over already” Harry said, looking at them.

„Yeah, we did discuss it” Liam said. „I needed to know I wasn‘t the only one thinking we need to get going.”

„I know we do” Harry said, looking at Liam. „I’m just... scared” he whispered the last word as if ashamed.

„Hey, mate, we all are” Zayn said, putting his hand on Harry‘s shoulder and patting it. „But if we stay here...”

Zayn trailed off, didn‘t finish for the sake of Louis, for the sake of all of them.

Captured, tortured, humiliated, shot – the likeliest scenario to happen to them if they ever got caught by the Awakening Army.

„So who‘s for leaving?” Liam asked and raised his hand.

Zayn nodded and Niall did so as well, though quite reluctantly. Harry hesitated one more second, but uttered a quiet ‘yeah’ and nodded. He turned to look at Louis still starring at the hands on his lap.

„Lou?” Harry asked, gently placing his hand on Louis’ ones. „You with us?”

Louis raised his head slowly and looked at Harry, then at Liam sitting across from him.

„Yeah, I’m with you” he said quietly, nodding slightly.

„Right then” Liam said and stood up. „We need some kind of plan first. I suggest we work through it for the next couple of days, get ready first and then leave.”

„Sounds like a plan” Harry nodded and looked at Louis. „Innit, Lou?”

But Louis was starring at his lap again and at Harry’s big hand, placed gently on top of his two smaller ones.

***

In the end they decided to travel during the day. They weren’t sure if traveling by night would be safer or not. On one hand, they wouldn‘t be seen easily, but on the other hand, they wouldn‘t be able to see red uniformed soldiers easily as well. And maybe five young men looking like they just crawled out of the ditch where they spent the last decade, creeping around at night would look even more suspicious. And none of the boys knew what was happening in the outskirts of Detroit, much less the world. So if it will look too dangerous, they will change their plans and will travel by night.

They took the biggest sheets they had and put all the food and other few meager essential belongings they still had, then took all four corners of the sheets and tied them together, making a sort of a bag that they could carry over their shoulders.

Also, they sat down and came up with a story. They were students who were studying in Detroit (unfortunately, none of them knew any universities and could not google anything) when it all happened. Since they were foreign students, none of them had where to go, so they just ran away from the city and are now trying to get back home to UK.

That’s the story for those who would not recognize them as the One Direction boys. If they would be recognized, they had no idea what would happen to them. They once escaped the soldiers of the Awakening Army at the stadium. That was purely a miracle or a great stroke of luck. Caught a second time they doubted they‘d be that lucky again. And having caught five international music stars from UK might be something the Awakening Army might be interested to get their hands on and exploit.

They didn’t know what they were expecting to find or to achieve. But hiding away and being barely alive from starvation and cold was not an option either. At least maybe they will be lucky to find out what’s happening in the USA where they got stuck and maybe they would even get a glimpse of what’s happening in the world, especially in the UK. Maybe they will stumble upon a way to get home. Any of that certainly won’t happen if they stay hidden in that shack.

So after two more days they felt they were as prepared to leave as they’ll ever be. Each of the boys had a small makeshift bag from sheets over their shoulders and that was that.

They went out in the field and started walking east. After the massacre in the arena they ran from it following the Lake Erie. Niall knew that, because out of boredom on a plane he looked at the map of Detroit and found a Brest Bay south of the arena where they were supposed to perform. He found it quite hilarious and examined the map closer. He couldn’t remember much now, but he did know that the Brest Bay was south of the arena in the Lake Erie. If they would walk keeping to the shore of the lake, they would slowly make a circle until they faced east. And east was what they needed.

None of them had any idea how long it would take them to walk to New York, but they were prepared for weeks and weeks of travelling. Zayn mumbled something about stealing a car, but Harry immediately refused the idea. Not only because stealing was wrong, but because they would become an obvious target then. Now if they caught the attention of the Awakening Army soldiers’, it would be by accident. But if they stole a car, they would put themselves on the map.

Liam was not entirely sure he agreed with Harry, but decided not to comment at the moment. But if there was a chance of getting the car, Liam thought it was worth the risk.

For a while they walked in silence without any disruptions. But way too soon the buildings came into view or, to be more exact, what was left of the buildings. There was no smoke anymore like on that first day, no noise of explosions, no guns fired. It was disturbingly quiet. They couldn’t hear any cars, people, not even dogs barking. It was a dead city, torn apart, its insides ripped out and scattered around.

The first rotten and disintegrated body they saw was lying right in the middle of their path. Niall immediately put his hand over his eyes and just stared at the ground, not daring to look back up again. Liam, Zayn and Harry all felt queasy from the sight and hurried their steps. Louis just stared impassively at the remains. The only indication that he did feel slightly disturbed by the sight was a slight twitch of his lips.

There were some shops on their way, some of them not completely destroyed and, to their great happiness, some of them still had some food left. Most probably people who survived fled the city without turning back and never returned, so many of the shops still stood stocked with food.

After quite a while of walking the first shop they stumbled upon that still had food was closed, but Zayn grabbed one of the hundreds of bricks lying around and broke the glass. Normally Liam would have screamed at him for making way too much noise, but even he forgot all about that. After weeks and weeks of eating beans, tuna and tea, he was desperate for anything at all.

Zayn was the first one to get inside and the remaining four boys heard his shout of happiness before they even saw shelves and shelves of food. It was a small store, but it still had lots of candy and fizzy drinks that were not rotten. Niall grabbed a handful of Snickers and tore the wrapping with his shaking hands.

They stuffed themselves full of sweets and cereal, and washed everything with Coca Cola. After some twenty minutes of engorging the food, they sat on the floor and for a moment forgot all their troubles.

“That was the best fucking thing in the whole fucking four months” Zayn said lazily, resting his head on the wall.

“Yeah” Niall agreed, a smile lingering on his lips.

“I think I’m going to be sick” Harry mumbled, putting his hand on his mouth. It looked like he struggled with the need to retch for a moment or two, but then suddenly he stood up and ran outside through the broken window. The sounds of him vomiting violently reached the boys’ ears a few seconds later.

“I guess that was expected” Liam mumbled, rubbing his belly with his hand. “I hope I have a stronger stomach.”

Zayn chuckled at glanced at Liam. For a moment Liam held his look, but then closed his eyes and sighed.

Suddenly Louis stood up, walked to one of the shelves, grabbed a bottle of water and went outside. He found Harry leaning by the wall, spit hanging from his mouth like a lonely string of web.

“You should drink some water” Louis said, extending the bottle to Harry.

“Thanks” Harry managed to say and took the offered bottle from Louis’ hand.

Louis stood and watched how Harry first washed his mouth and spit the water out and only then drank greedily until half of the water was gone.

“I feel better now” Harry sighed, straightening up.

“That was such a waste of food” Louis said and Harry felt a tug at his heart seeing the corners of Louis’ mouth twitch into a barely visible smile. The first one in four months.

“Sorry ‘bout that” Harry smiled sheepishly.

Louis seemed not to be going anywhere. He just stood there, looking at the ruins in front of them, deep in thought.

“Can I ask you something?” Harry said, looking at his friend and former lover cautiously.

Louis nodded once.

“Do you believe that we will really manage to get back home to UK?”

Louis’ body stiffened and he turned to Harry slowly, looking at him, evaluating.

“We have to at least try” he finally said.

“I know, but do you really think… are there even any commercial planes flying at all? We have no money, no documents, nothing!”

The quiet desperation in Harry’s voice might have been invisible for anybody else, but not Louis, who used to know how Harry felt only by quickly glancing at him. He still knew Harry that well, just chose to ignore his presence for the last couple of years. But now, looking at him he felt like those two years of forced separation never happened. Harry was still an open book to him, even though he did change a lot.

“Well, what do you suggest to do then?” he asked rather coldly.

When Harry didn’t answer, he inhaled deeply and looked at the rubble again.

“There must be some way. It might take us a while to find it, but there must be some way home. The four of you will get back to UK.”

“There’s the five of us, Lou” Harry said gently and Louis felt Harry’s hand descend on his shoulder. “All five of us will be getting home together.”

“There’s nothing there for me anymore…”

Louis said it so quietly, that Harry barely heard it. Then tears followed and Louis, irritated at himself, wiped them angrily away, but they just wouldn’t stop coming.

Harry grabbed Louis’ shoulder stronger and pushed the older boy close to his chest. He hugged Louis who struggled at first, but then just slumped in Harry’s arms, gripping Harry’s bloodstained shirt in his fists.

“I’m so sorry, Louis” Harry whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”

The first few nights they spent hiding somewhere Harry couldn’t even remember, he held Louis so tight he thought he might suffocate him. But Louis’ trembling body was pliant in his arms, shaking from tears and shock, and pain.

Now Harry felt a different kind of pain – a quiet acceptance. There was still anger in a way Louis gripped Harry’s shirt tightly, but that was all. Louis looked like he finally gave up, like he accepted what happened, like he carved his fate in a stone as well.

“I invited them to come” Louis whispered into Harry’s chest. “I did that…”

“Don’t be stupid, Lou! Don’t ever even think of blaming yourself! You hear me?”

He felt Louis nod reluctantly and it made Harry feel slightly better.

“I know it’s not much, but you do have a girlfriend waiting for you at home. I know it’s nothing, absolutely nothing compared to your family, but at least it’s a tiny hope, yeah?”

Louis lifted his head and looked at Harry like he suddenly started talking Chinese.

“What?” he asked confused. “Who–”

“Eleanor, Louis, she’s waiting for you back home!”

Louis continued starring at Harry like he was mad, then his lips tightened and he looked down.

“I split up with her a few weeks before... before the Detroit show.”

“Oh” Harry said, surprised. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be” Louis said curtly and wriggled out of Harry’s grasp. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and thankfully no more tears were coming anymore.

“I never loved her, I was actually quite relieved to finally be rid of her.”

“Oh…” Harry had nothing to say to that.

Louis looked him straight in the eyes as if waiting for some reaction, but then Liam’s head suddenly popped out through the broken window. He looked at the scene before him and cleared his throat.

“Hey, Harry, if you’re done, I think it’s a better idea to go back inside and not stand around in the open.”

“Right, sorry” Harry mumbled. “Come on, Louis.”

He let Louis go in first and followed.

After the initial excitement over all the food, the boys went to gather anything that was still edible. It was not a small stack – sweets, cereal, dried fruit and nuts, some canned food and cookies. They didn’t find any backpacks, but there were a few bigger plastic bags and they took as much as they could with themselves. Zayn grabbed a few packs of cigarettes and all the lighters he could find as well as some bottles of shampoo and shower gel. Razors and shaving cream was Zayn’s best discovery that day. Harry grabbed the only few boxes of painkillers and some other medicine that was stacked next to the counter.

It was still just midday, so they decided not to linger around and move on.

They kept walking for a few more hours, slowed down by the heavy bags they were carrying, but not that many other shops were in sight. They did find a clothes store, but its doors were open and it looked like some serious panic happened inside. But thankfully there still were some clothes, even though a small selection, at the men’s aisle. Louis found a new pair of jeans for himself, Liam, Niall, Zayn and Harry each grabbed a hoody and all the boys got a few pairs of fresh socks and pants. Before putting his hoody on Harry looked down at his bloodstained shirt, but he didn’t have the heart to throw it out. There was a bloody imprint of Louis’ palm on the left side of the shirt and even after washing Harry could still clearly make it out. He put the hoody over it.

They walked for the remaining day and by the time the sun was setting down, they felt they did put quite a distance between themselves and the shack they used to live.

The boys found some shelter under the destroyed building, had dinner and went to sleep.

For a long time Harry could not fall asleep. He kept listening to the sounds around him and when he thought the boys were deep asleep, he turned to stare at Louis lying right next to him. He looked at Louis’ calm, relaxed face and felt something heavy in his chest.

Images of a naked Louis hovering over him should not cross his mind. Nor Louis’ slightly parted lips, his clear blue eyes with dilated pupils, eager to gorge on Harry’s skin, ravish it. None of that was his for a very long time. And now was definitely not the time to let the guard down and let himself be carried away.

He forced his love for Louis deep in the darkest corner of the basement in his heart, locked the doors and threw the key out. But somehow now the doors were slightly ajar and that love kept throwing curious glances at the bright-lit gap in the door.

Harry closed his eyes and took a very deep breath.

They had to get out of here alive first.

Louis had to properly grieve for his family.

They both needed to rebuild their lives in this new world where (as they guessed) a war raged on.

There was no space for trying to fight for the lost love again.

Still, Harry could not help but feel hopeful. Maybe, just maybe, there still was a chance for him to get Louis back.

Even if Louis dumped him succumbing to the pressure, even if he paraded his new girlfriend in front of Harry’s eyes, even if he said their love was bullshit and even if he pretended sometimes that Harry was not even a friend to him anymore.

But if destroyed cities, slaughtered kids and their parents, the uncertainty about tomorrow and a fear of getting shot any second was not a reason good enough to ignore all that and try to chase after his love for Louis again, then nothing ever was.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, peeps! :) I’m glad some of you enjoyed the first chapter! Thank you for leaving kudos and comments! ^o^ 
> 
> I like this chapter a bit better myself :P Mostly because I rushed the first one and this one was done with a little less urgency :) Hope you’ll enjoy it as well! ^o^

Luck was a vicious little bitch.

At least that’s how Zayn had put it once a few months ago when they were hiding in some abandoned underground station and it was coming close to a fourth day without food and with no prospect of getting it anytime soon. Luck had to do a lot with it then, because they simply could never go out in the street and not be spotted by a red-uniformed soldiers.

So when they went for two months straight without being spotted, Zayn was happy, but cautious. When they left their shack and met not a single person on their way, Zayn was suspicious. But when they found an unraided food store and not only stuffed their mouths full, but also saved a lot for the future, Zayn was getting worried.

Was anyone ever that lucky for such a long stretch of time?

It was Niall who first heard the sound and stopped dead in his tracks the next morning. They just left their hideout and were walking for less than three hours by that time. Niall stopped and stared ahead of himself, listening.

“Can you hear that? What is it?” Niall asked, his voice sounding shaky.

The other four boys didn’t immediately answer. They thought they heard some echo from the harbour in the distance. It was a strange sound – a heavy, constant, monotonous lamentation of abandoned, rumbling buildings and water caressing the shores.

But after stopping and listening for a minute a chill ran down Harry’s spine.

“Somebody’s screaming…” he said, his voice sounding a little shaky.

“Sounds like… like lots of people…” Niall uttered.

For a moment nobody moved, they just stood there listening and starring at each other. Trying to come over the shock of actually hearing other people after so long and then trying to imagine why they would be screaming in this abandoned, destroyed city.

Louis suddenly moved. He slung the two bags he was carrying over his shoulder and started running forward.

“Louis, what are you doing?” Harry hissed and ran after him. “Louis, wait!”

“Harry, no!” Liam shouted.

“Fuck this” Zayn muttered, looking at Liam and Niall quickly.

There was nothing else to do. Both of his friends nodded and they ran after Harry and Louis, who already had put a bit of a distance between themselves and the other three boys.

They were running for a few minutes, trying not to make too much sound and keep to the walls, so that they wouldn’t be spotted easily. It was harder than it sounded and Niall, Zayn and Liam got a little behind Harry and Louis, who were less careful and quite far ahead of them. When they finally caught up with the other two, Louis and Harry were crouched by a half broken wall, starring through the gap at the view in front of them.

What they saw, punched all the air out of their lungs.

There was a huge square by the bay, probably used to be a harbour, but now there were no boats at the dock. At the far end of the square there were some cars and a few jeeps parked side by side. A group of red uniformed soldiers was standing close to the cars and appeared to be chatting and smoking. On their right, a bit further away there were two open air trucks and when boys got a closer look at what was inside them, they saw piles of squirming bodies lying on top of each other, wriggling and struggling against their bound hands and legs.

By one of the two trucks they saw a figure of a little girl standing and looking upwards, crying uncontrollably and shouting for her mother.

One of the soldiers stubbed his cigarette and glanced her way, shouted something in a language the boys were vaguely aware having heard somewhere in their lives before and laughed.

“Shit, this is bad” Liam muttered. “We need to go.”

He tugged Harry’s shirt, but Harry was just staring at Louis and shook his head at Liam.

“Louis, let’s go” Liam pleaded, but got no answer.

Zayn looked at Liam and shrugged helplessly. Maybe if they stayed quietly hidden, they would not be spotted. After all, it looked like the soldiers were preparing to leave.

Liam directed his glance back at the square. Now one of the soldiers was walking towards the truck where the girl was standing. The girl seemed oblivious to him, she just continued crying, reaching out her hands to the people inside the truck and starring at it. The man approached her and then shoved the girl away with his leg. The push was strong enough to send the girl falling down on her bottom and the man laughed loudly. The girl cried in pain, but stood up on her shaky legs and walked a few steps back towards the truck. The soldier then kicked her really hard and the girl slid back from the force of it, fell down and this time didn’t stand up anymore.

The soldier gave her one last look and climbed in the driver’s seat. A few more of his colleagues followed and soon both trucks were driving away. The girl was still on the ground, crying and the remaining four soldiers didn’t pay her the slightest of attention.

“Come on, guys, let’s go” Liam hissed.

“I’m not leaving her here” Louis said coldly, starring at the form of a girl on the ground.

“And what do you suggest we do?” Liam asked angrily. “Should we take on soldiers armed with actual guns loaded with actual bullets while we’re barehanded?”

“I’m not asking you to do anything” Louis shot back, finally turning to look at Liam. “You can go if you want!”

“Stop that, both of you!” Zayn said angrily. “Nobody’s leaving anybody alone. But Liam is right, Lou, we can’t fight four armed men throwing canned beans at them!”

“I’m not leaving her” Louis forced the words through his gritted teeth as if it took a lot of effort for him not to shout.

“Guys, look” Niall said, pointing to the square.

They all turned in time to see four men walking away from the cars and the girl on the ground towards the right side of the square. Only now the boys spotted a warehouse with the doors wide open and the men were walking back inside.

“I’m getting her now” Louis said, dropped the food bags and was about to stand up fully, but Harry grabbed him by the arm and stopped him.

“Lou, no, it’s too dangerous!” he whispered, looking scared. “If they see you…”

“I can’t just leave her here” Louis said with so much despair in his voice, that Harry almost let go. Almost.

“Wait, Louis” Zayn said. “If you’re really doing this, I think I have a plan. Well, sort of a plan.”

“Whatever plan you have is better than nothing at all” Louis said urgently.

“We go down there by the water, the shore is lower than the whole square and we can walk on the pathway without being spotted from the other end of the square. Then you can sneak up, get the girl while we continue forward carrying your bags. You will catch up and we emerge right there in those bushes. They should give us enough cover to get a bit further away from the square, then we can cross the road and hide between the rubbles of the buildings again.”

“Sounds fine” Louis said dismissively. It wasn’t any great plan, just a slightly better alteration of Louis’ ‘go grab the girl and run back to the lads’ initial idea.

“You just need to make sure you keep your hand on the girl’s mouth – she might give you away by screaming at you.”

“Of course” Louis nodded.

“I don’t want you to go out in the open alone” Harry said, still gripping Louis’ hand tightly.

“There’s no time to argue” Louis said. “We don’t know how long there’re gonna be inside.”

And that was the end of discussion. They all stoop up, but were still crouching and moved straight for the shore. It was exactly as Zayn had said and they reached the middle of the pathway being well hidden from sight. Louis stood on his tiptoes and looked at the square. All seemed clear. The girl was now sitting on the ground crying and the four men were nowhere in sight. From his position he could see some of the inside of the warehouse, but all he could see was light and some bags and boxes, but no people.

Louis looked back at his friends and nodded. Liam grabbed Louis by the waist and lifted him, Louis pushed himself upwards and was now sitting on the edge of the dock. He quickly glanced down at his friends.

“Go” he whispered to them, but was only looking at Harry. “I’ll catch up with you in a second.”

All Harry could do was stare how Louis disappeared from his sight. He looked over the wall at the ground above him and saw Louis crouched as low as possible running quietly to where the girl was sitting.

“Come on” Liam hissed, grabbing Harry by his arm roughly and dragging him forward.

They ran the remainder of the pathway and reached the bushes in less than a couple of minutes. Harry dropped his bags with food and urgently looked at the square which was now on the same ground level as them.

His heart sank in his chest.

Louis was nowhere to be seen and one of the men was out in the square, walking lazily towards the cars that were too close to the bushes for comfort.

Harry looked back at Liam, Zayn and Niall, but his friends just looked back at him helplessly.

‘He must have hidden behind the cars’ Harry thought desperately. There was nowhere else to hide in the middle of the square anyway.

The soldier who walked back was well built and in his early thirties. He had a face of someone who’s been in one fight too many. His hands were big and strong and his demeanour screamed of cold nonchalance. He walked to one of the cars and opened the door on driver’s side, leaned down and got some folder from the inside of the car.

He was flipping through the pages inside when Harry spotted Louis emerging behind one of the cars and starting to walk back to the bushed very slowly. The girl was in his tight grip under his left arm, her skinny legs dangling in the air while Louis’ right arm was an iron hold on her mouth. Now, being not that far away from them, Harry saw girl’s wide open eyes full of horror. But she was limp in Louis’ arms and did not struggle, just stared at Louis in a daze.

“Shit” Harry whispered under his breath, hoping he could make Louis disappear from the square by his share willpower.

Louis was moving very slowly, but the soldier had his back to him and seemed to be immersed in the folder in his hands.

Then, as if in a slow motion scene of a movie, Harry saw the man lift his head and look at the empty square, exactly at the spot where the girl was last sitting. He closed the folder with one hand and started turning in order to look around.

It was then that Harry understood that Louis, still being some ten meters away from the bushes, had no chance of not being spotted.

Harry froze to the spot, feeling numbness run from his head to the very tips of his toes. His mind was screaming for him to do something, but not a cell in his body was moving – fear took over his body completely just like that moment when he saw tens and tens of armed red uniformed soldiers emerging on the stage and start shooting at their fans down below in the stadium. For those few precious seconds when, for the benefit of Louis, Harry should have come up with some solution, some plan, he stood paralyzed and horror-stricken.

At the same time, he saw Zayn suddenly leap to his feet, dropping the food bags, grabbing a heavy looking brick that was lying at their feet and surge forward with so much speed Harry’s never seen anyone run before.

Louis stopped dead in his tracks spotting Zayn suddenly surging towards him with a brick in his hand and Harry saw fear spread in his face. Just as Zayn almost caught up with him, Louis also turned to look backwards and saw the man turning his head and looking him straight in the eyes.

There was a moment of pure shock on the man’s face and for those few precious moments he stood still, not moving a muscle. And then it all happened very quickly and quietly. The man dropped the folder and reached for his gun while Zayn finished the remainder of the distance between them. The gun was drawn out and pointed at Zayn. Zayn held his hand high above his head with a brick in it and then stroke it down the man’s head with all the force he had in his malnourished body.

The silence was broken by a dull ‘thud’ that echoed through the square and was followed by a louder clattering of a gun falling on the concrete floor.

The man swayed on his feet and fell on his knees, a slight trickle of blood ran from somewhere in his head leaving a red trace on his forehead. Zayn raised his hand with the brick in it again, ready to strike, but the man grabbed his leg by the knee and pushed Zayn towards himself. Zayn lost his balance and fell to his knees right in front of an enraged looking man.

The man grabbed Zayn’s hand with the brick and squeezed so tight that Zayn dropped the brick down and cried in pain, a small snapping sound reached Harry’s ears. He released Zayn’s leg and grabbed him by the hair then, tearing at it so much that Zayn was now almost on all his fours in front of the man who used this moment of Zayn being completely incapacitated, pulled Zayn’s head up a little and then smashed it against the concrete floor.

When he pulled it back, all Harry could see was blood covering Zayn’s face.

And then (Harry had no idea how or when) Louis was over them, the same brick in both of his hands. He raised the brick over his head and smashed it down on the soldier’s head with all the force he had inside him.

The man swayed for a second and fell down motionless on the floor.

Harry felt a tug at his hand before he heard Niall’s voice.

“Come on, Harry, go” Niall urged, his voice sounding panicky and scared.

Harry saw Liam catching up with Zayn and looking at the warehouse. Harry thought the whole fight that lasted barely a minute didn’t make any sounds, but through his muddled brain he was not sure about anything anymore. He felt his legs move on autopilot, his palms sweaty (only later did he remember he had two food bags which he forgot abandoned by his feet) and wondered why they were all going out in the open instead of running to hide as they planned before.

“Harry, snap out of it” Niall hissed in his ear and Harry finally, finally felt blood rush back to his hands and legs. The veil over his ears lifted and he could hear everything clearly again. He heard the girl hiccupping on the floor and only saw Niall leaning down to grab her by the arm and lift her to her feet while still keeping a firm hold on Harry’s hand.

Only then he saw Liam open the door of the same car that the soldier was using and helping dizzy looking Zayn inside. Only then he saw Louis catch up with the two of them, grab the girl in his arms again and run back to the car.

Harry’s heart was hammering in his chest madly while he ran to the car together with Niall.

“I’ll drive” he heard Liam’s voice and he dove inside the backseat next to Louis and the girl on his lap. Zayn’s slouched body was next to Louis’ and Niall appeared at the other end of the car, sitting down next to Liam in the passenger seat.

Harry wanted to ask how they were supposed to start the car, but the sound of the engine much too loud in the dead silent square roared and Liam backed the car out of the row of other cars it was standing and turned for the road.

“Go for the streets, get off the freeway!” Louis shouted, but Liam was already doing just that.

Harry wasn’t sure if he heard the shots or imagined them. He didn’t turn to look.

Instead he stared right ahead at the streets Liam was driving. Liam turned so many times that Harry was sure that even if the other three soldiers were following them, they still had a good head start and had quite a good chance of running away.

“We need to hide” Niall shouted panicky at Liam. Liam just nodded, concentrating on the road. Harry had no idea how Liam managed to drive them avoiding the rubble and dead bodies scattered all over the roads.

They drove like that for what felt like very long time, Liam constantly making a lot of turns this way trying to completely lose the men that Harry was sure were chasing them.

“Harry” he heard Louis’ voice and turned to look at him. “Take her, please.”

Louis was nodding his head towards the girl in his hands and Harry complied.

The girl was not crying anymore. Instead, she looked to be in shock, eyes wide and starring out the front of the car. Harry took her gently in his arms and sat her on his lap, pushing her face to his chest and hugging her.

Louis turned to Zayn, who was swaying with each turn of a car like a rag doll.

Louis sneaked one arm across Zayn’s shoulders and pushed his friend towards his own body. Then he lifted Zayn’s head with his other free arm.

Harry sucked in a breath.

There was too much blood that seemed to be flowing from somewhere in Zayn’s forehead and his nose. But he was conscious, eyes half open, though completely oblivious to his surroundings.

“I’ll find another freeway and I think we should get as far away from Detroit as possible” Liam said loudly.

“Yes, yes do that!” Louis said urgently.

Harry nodded and saw Niall do just the same.

A sudden thud was heard and something fell next to Harry’s feet, making him jump.

He looked down and saw a gun, the same one that was aimed at Louis just a few short moments ago.

Harry looked back up and saw Louis’ grim face.

“We might need it” Louis said, looking at Harry.

Harry nodded and pushed the gun with his leg further under the seat.

Both of them had their hands full and Harry just hoped that the safety was on. Not like he knew where to look for the safety switch even if he took the gun in his hands anyway.

They got out of the rubble and hit the freeway and Harry breathed a little easier when he could not see any other cars around.

But it was still a long time until he managed to relax. Only when they drove for almost an hour and turned to a side road leading into some forest. Only when they found a little meadow hidden well by the forest and thick bushes with a river a bit further ahead.

Zayn’s hoarse breathing was unnerving and only the rescued girl’s grip on his shirt was finally lose.

But Louis was sitting next to him, looking at him with his bright blue eyes and Harry thought that everything will be alright.

It had to be.

***

Liam was sitting by the river with Zayn lying next to him on the grass. Zayn fell unconscious before they finally reached their destination and Liam with the help of Louis carried Zayn out of the car and laid him on the grass. They had no blankets to put under Zayn to make his temporary 'bed' more comfortable. All four of them got very upset when they understood that they left all their makeshift bags while they were making a run for their lives.

So now they had not a single blanket, not a single can of beans or any of the food they got from the store they raided.

Harry searched the entire car and was very happy to find a first aid box in the truck. He also found an extra tire, a few dirty rags and a bottle of water, but when he opened the lid, the water smelled bad, like it was standing there in the heat for weeks and weeks.

There was nothing at all of any importance in the car itself. Just some CDs, some irrelevant documents and a packet of chewing gum. Basically, they were screwed.

The first aid box had plenty of bandages and plasters in it. It wasn't much, but at least it was better than nothing.

Liam got one of the dirty rags from the trunk of the car and washed it thoroughly in the river. When he finally deemed the rag to be suitable enough to use, he went over to Zayn and dabbed at his bloody skin with the rag, getting off most of the blood from Zayn's face, neck and chest. Liam really wanted to wash Zay's wound on the head, but it was more than likely that the rag was still unsanitary and the river's water might not have been clean as well. If he did that, he might have given Zayn a nasty infection on top of everything else. So Liam had to settle with just making Zayn more comfortable with washing the blood around his wounds.

Zayn's wrist was swollen and seemed to get even worse with time. Liam took Zayn's hand and stretched it so that Zayn's wrist fell in the water. He left it to lay there for a while, hoping that cold water would do some good to the swelling. There was no external wound on the wrist, but something was definitely not right.

"There's nothing else in the car that we can use" Harry said, approaching Liam.

"Well, fine, at least we've got bandages" Liam muttered.

Harry watched Liam take Zayn's hand out of the water and put it back to rest on the grass. Harry shifted a little, looking at Zayn's calm, unconscious face.

"Liam, I'm sorry about the food..." he uttered, feeling miserable.

"It's fine" Liam shook his head, still looking at Zayn. "We all forgot it, but considering the circumstances, I think we should just be happy we're alive...”

"Yeah..." Harry agreed.

Liam turned and looked around. Niall was sitting on the grass with the girl in his hands now. The girl looked to finally be more aware of her surroundings and Niall appeared to be talking to her. Louis was crouched by the car, his back to Liam and Harry, doing something Liam couldn’t see.

"Harry, I think Zayn's nose is broken" Liam said and looked at Zayn again.

Harry followed Liam's gaze and his eyes settled on now almost blood-free nose which, upon closer inspection, did look bent to one side quite a bit.

"Yeah, yeah it does look like that" Harry said, sitting down on the other side of Zayn.

"I think we should put it back" Liam said and Harry looked at him alarmed.

"You think it's a good idea to touch it?"

"I don't know" Liam admitted. "I mean, it's not like we can go to the hospital... And as far as I know, people always push the bone back to its right place before even going to the hospital. Well... at least that's what they always do in the movies..."

Harry knew it was ridiculous to put the health of their friend in trust of their knowledge from the movies, but he also knew there was nothing else to do. Harry did think putting the nose back in its right place was probably the right decision, because then the bone could start healing. But he also had no idea how to do it. So Harry just looked at Liam pleadingly.

"Just… hold him down just in case" Liam said. "I'll try pushing the bone back in its' place."

Harry complied. He took a hold of Zayn's torso, incapacitating his arms at the same time and Liam leaned over Zayn's head.

"Here we go..." Liam muttered to himself.

He felt around Zayn’s nose carefully, frowning in concentration, but jumped a little when Zayn suddenly stirred and moaned. Liam did think it was better if Zayn was more conscious, so he just continued inspecting Zayn’s weirdly bent nose for a while longer, ignoring the moans.

“I think I can feel where the bone is out of place” he finally said, glancing at Harry. Harry nodded and Liam, without waiting longer, pushed hard on Zayn’s nose and a silent little crack echoed around them. Zayn stirred again and moaned loader, his eyes fluttered. Liam still held on his nose and felt around it again.

“It feels ok now” he said hesitantly. “Well, as far as I can tell.”

“Better than nothing” Harry said and let go of Zayn who now was a little restless in his sleep.

“How’s he?” Louis’ voice sprang as if out of nowhere and both Liam and Harry jumped a little. “Sorry” Louis said, not looking sorry at all.

Harry glanced over at him and froze, spotting the gun in one of Louis’ hands. At the corner of his eye he saw that Liam also noticed the gun.

“Zayn’s nose should be fine now, I hope” Liam said. “Where did you get it?” he nodded at the gun.

“That solder dropped it when Zayn hit him, so I got it for us. I think under these circumstances having a gun is actually as good as having food.”

“Do you even know how to use it?” Harry asked.

“No” Louis said sheepishly and lifted the gun. “I was hoping that maybe one of you might know how to put the safety on or at least know where the safety thingy is.”

Harry and Liam stared at Louis for a moment and then shook their heads. Just the fact that Louis called it a ‘safety thingy’ was proof enough that he (or none of them for that matter) should even touch that gun.

“I still think we should keep it” Louis said, lowering his hand again.

“Well yeah, just… I don’t know… we should put it somewhere safe so that it doesn’t fire by accident” Liam said, his brows furrowed in thought, but his hand was still on Zayn’s head and now he was absentmindedly stroking Zayn’s hair.

“I’ll find a place” Louis said and disappeared to the car again.

Just then Niall got up with the girl still in his arms and walked towards them. The girl looked much more alert now and when he approached his friends, Niall set her on the ground and she curiously looked at the three boys in front of her.

“See, what did I tell you?” Niall asked, looking down at her. “That’s Harry Styles right here!”

The girl stared at Harry with her huge blue eyes and then suddenly leaped forward and latched herself on Harry, hugging his waist (it was as far as she could reach, being still quite short). Harry recovered very quickly and hugged her back, stroking her head a little.

“Yeah, I’m Harry” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Zoey” she said shyly.

“Nice to meet you, Zoey!”

She didn’t let go and Harry just smiled. She didn’t look older than 8 or 9, still a small girl and Harry felt no remorse of letting her indulge in what she wanted. After all she went through, she deserved so much more than just a hug.

“What’s happening here?” Louis asked, approaching them again, his hands free of the gun.

“We’re introducing ourselves to Zoey” Harry said. “Do you want to say hi to Louis and Liam?”

Zoey shook her head and kept hugging Harry.

“Well this will take a while” Niall laughed and all of them felt much better suddenly. This was normal. This almost felt like being backstage and meeting fans again. This was what they knew how to do.

Harry wriggled out of Zoey’s grasp and kneeled in front of her.

“How are you feeling, pumpkin?” he asked.

“My tummy hurts” she said.

“Aww, poor Zoey” Harry said and rubbed his hand over her belly. “How old are you, darling?”

“I’m 7 years and 9 months old” she said proudly. “Harry, I want you to marry me!”

She stared at him seriously and Harry couldn’t help but laugh.

“Maybe when you’re a bit older” he said, winking at her. “Deal?”

Zoey nodded. Apart from big blue eyes she had long wavy dark-blond hair and looked almost like a kid from some milk commercial. She was really lovely, Harry thought.

“Is that Zayn?” she asked shyly, looking over Harry’s shoulder.

“Yes.”

“Is he ok?”

“He will be” Liam said. “He has a bump on his head, we just need to give him some medicine.”

“My grandma has a lot of pills” Zoey said. “Maybe she could give him some!”

“Where is your grandma?” Harry asked.

“She lives in Athens!”

“Athens?” Liam’s face fell. “But that’s like… in Greece...”

“Nooo” Zoey said seriously. “That’s in the Ohio State. It’s 62 Lake Street, 45701 OH, United States” she recited the address proudly.

“Oh” Liam said dumbly. “Is it far? Do you know, Zoey?”

“No, I don’t think so” the girl said thoughtfully. “When my mum takes me there, we always eat breakfast and we arrive there in time for lunch.”

The boys all looked at each other and it appeared that they were thinking the same thing.

“Do you think your grandma is home?” Harry asked.

“Yes! Me and my mum were going there when these men… when…”

“It’s ok” Harry said and tightened his hug on her. “We’ll take you to grandma, is that ok?”

“Yes, please!”

“So that’s settled then” Harry smiled.

Zoey finally loosened her grip on Harry and looked around shyly.

“Hey” Louis waved at her when her eyes fell on him. She smiled a little and stepped away from Harry. Louis, knowing exactly where this was going, spread his arms a little and the girl lunged herself at him, hugging him tightly.

“Here goes your wedding, Harry” Niall laughed.

“I’ll live” Harry smiled, looking affectionately at the scene.

“There’s a GPS in the car” Niall said. “I’ll go try to set up the route, see how long it will take us to get there.”

“Yes, please” Liam nodded. “We should get going, we don’t have any food or water and we really need to do something about it.”

Niall nodded and disappeared from their sight. Louis was now patting Zoey’s back and looking at Harry and Liam.

They all were thinking similar things.

They needed food and water, desperately. And there was a bit of travelling to do ahead in a stolen car which was dangerous in itself. Zayn was still mostly unconscious and needed his wounds properly cleaned, needed medicine, needed to drink water.

But if all went well and they reached Zoey’s grandmother’s house, they would be saved.

Even if only for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know what kind of story this is actually :P It’s not really drama, not an adventure type of thing, not a love story! I guess I just like to drag my favourite crushes through hell – that should be a genre on its own! 
> 
> Also, feedback is so much appreciated!!! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this update came later than I wanted, but at least chapter 3 is finally here! ^o^ Half of it I had to really squeeze out – it was very hard to write for some reason. Not very fond of this chapter, but I think it’s as good as it can get at the moment :) 
> 
> Also, I finally made an outline for this thing! :D So I finally know more or less what’s gonna happen :P It should amount to around 10 chapters altogether give or take :) 
> 
> Also, I’d like to remind everyone that a major character death tag might happen in the future (depending on what I decide when I go along with the story)! Since I’m still very undecided myself, I want everyone to be on the same page as me! :) 
> 
> Oh, and the last thing :) I’m awful at tags, so if you think I should tag something that’s in any of the chapters, feel free to tell me ^o^ I cannot figure these things out like ever! :P 
> 
> Right then, off with chapter 3, peeps! ^o^

 

Zayn grunted and squeezed his eyes in pain. His head throbbed insanely, his nose felt like it had been dragged through a meat grinder and his wrist sent a jolt of pain each time he tried to move it. He squirmed a few seconds more and managed to peel his eyes open.

"Zayn?" he heard a voice on his left and slightly turned his head in that direction, trying to see who was there. Through a bit blurry vision he saw Liam's face.

"Hey" Liam said softly and put his arm on Zayn's hand gently. "So glad you're finally awake."

"Mmm" Zayn muttered, still not up to talking yet. He tried to adjust to the light coming through a half closed window blinds.

"Do you want water?" Liam asked and Zayn managed a weak nod.

Liam disappeared for a second and fetched a glass of water from a table nearby. He put his hand around Zayn's shoulders and helped him sit up a little bit. Zayn emptied the whole glass greedily and Liam helped him to lie down again.

"Mary has made soup for you yesterday, I'll get it for you in a moment, when you're a bit more conscious. You need to eat at least a little bit, then I can give you some antibiotics and painkillers. How do you feel?"

"My head..." Zayn's voice was raspy and very nasal, as if he couldn't breathe through his nose at all, "hurts like... bitch" he managed to utter and closed his eyes in pain.

"I'll get the soup" Liam said gently, stroking Zayn's arm in comfort before disappearing from the room.

Zayn opened his eye again and looked around lazily. He was in a smallish room. There was only a bed, a small table and a cupboard here. At the end of the room there was a small window and sun was shining through the gap between the blinds.

Liam didn't take long to come back. He entered the room again with a bowl of steaming soup. He helped Zayn to sit, leaning against the headboard and gave Zayn the spoon. He held the bowl while Zayn ate the soup with his shaky healthy left hand.

"Where are we?" Zayn asked halfway through the meal, finally sounding a bit more like himself, though his voice still didn't sound the same.

"We're with Zoey's family - that's the girl's name. Well, to be more exact, with her grandmother Mary. Her husband left three days ago to look for their daughter and Zoey, but didn’t come back… yet."

"Hmm" Zayn muttered, his mouth still full. "Where are the other boys? Are they OK?"

"Yeah, they're all fine. Thanks to you really, Zayn" Liam smiled.

"I did a great job at getting the shit beaten out of myself" Zayn muttered unhappily.

"If not for you, we'd all be probably dead or captured by now" Liam said. "So thanks for that."

Zayn glanced at Liam sideways and saw the other boy smiling.

"Any time" Zayn muttered, still not feeling fully like himself.

They heard footsteps in the hall and soon a head popped in the room.

"Heard that Zayn's awake already" Louis said, looking at the bed. When he saw that in fact it was true, he stepped inside and came to sit on the corner of the bed. "Glad to see you finally back with the living."

"Yeah... How long was I out?"

"Since yesterday afternoon more or less" Liam said.

"And now's...?"

"Almost two 2pm" Liam offered.

"Thanks for saving my ass, Zayn" Louis said, smiling slightly.

"Any time, bro" Zayn said and Louis’ smile widened slightly more.

Zayn finished the soup and a small actual smile appeared on his face.

"I really needed that" he said contentedly. He accepted the medicine from Liam’s hand then and drank it with a small sip of water.

Liam put the empty bowl and a glass back on the table and when he turned back, he found Zayn staring at him and then at Louis. Then realisation dawned on Zayn's face.

"Shower" he uttered, a dreamy expression on his face.

"It was heavenly!" Louis laughed. He brought his hand over his chin and stroked smooth skin absentmindedly. "Harry did all our hair as well!"

"So why are you still filthy?" Zayn asked, turning back to Liam.

"I didn't want to leave you alone while you were unconscious" Liam said. "I'll get a shower now, you go back to sleep."

"No, I want to shower as well" Zayn said stubbornly and made an attempt to get up. Liam jumped in his way, but it wasn't necessary. Halfway while getting up Zayn felt dizzy and he lied down again.

"Ah, shit..." Zayn muttered and closed his eyes.

Liam covered him with a blanket and pushed the hair out of Zayn's face.

"Sleep now, in a couple of days you'll be up and about. Will you be fine alone for now?"

"Yeah..."

Zayn appeared to be already dozing. It was either the medicine, the food or tiredness, or all of those together. Liam waited for another few moments and turned to leave. He found himself facing Louis with his brows raised in question.

"What?" Liam asked, walking past Louis and going in the hall, Louis close behind.

"Nothing" Louis said after a few heartbeats.

Liam headed for the shower while Louis went back downstairs to the living room. Niall and Zoey were sitting on the sofa, improvising on playing tunes with a portable digital piano keyboard and singing Best Song Ever. When Louis stepped into the room, they didn't get quiet immediately. Niall finished the song while Zoey played the same tune on the few keys and looked at Niall happily.

When finally Niall realised Louis was in the doorway, he stopped and smiled.

"How's Zayn?"

"Alive and grumpy" Louis said.

"Figures" Niall laughed.

"Where's Harry?"

"Helping Mary with the lunch in the kitchen."

“Right” Louis nodded. “I’ll go see if they need any help.”

“Any help in the kitchen?” Niall raised his eyebrows and Louis rolled his eyes in exaggerated annoyance.

He left the room and in a minute found himself standing in the kitchen’s doorway, facing Harry and Mary’s backs. They didn’t hear him approach. Harry was cutting lettuce while Mary was taking out plates and cutlery from a cupboard.

Mary was an old lady with white hair, very skinny and hunched over a little. She moved slowly around the house as her left hip was painful. But she had a very kind, gentle face and a warm smile that seemed to never leave.

When she saw a strange car in her driveway, she didn’t even dare to move, but when she saw Zoey climbing out of it, she didn’t think twice – she ran out of the house and swallowed her granddaughter in an embrace.

It didn’t take long for the boys to explain to her what happened and she didn’t even hesitate before inviting them inside. Liam parked the car inside the garage and only when they were inside they carried unconscious Zayn to one of the guest rooms where he was attended to as best as it was possible under the conditions they had.

Later, when the initial commotion and rush was over, they sat to eat dinner quickly put together by Mary and talked.

Mary barely managed to keep in her tears hearing what happened to her daughter, but she just hugged already sleeping Zoey in her arms tighter. Earlier in the day Zoey very enthusiastically tried to introduce the boys to her and Mary was surprised to know that it was the boys from her granddaughter’s favourite band.

“Zoey and her mom had the tickets to the show in Detroit” Mary said quietly then, looking at the four boys in front of her. “But the tickets got lost in the post and they couldn’t go. She was going to get a refund later.”

Now, standing and looking at the old woman whose daughter was in danger and probably gone forever and whose husband was missing, Louis thought that he didn’t really feel any compassion towards her.

The thought scared him.

He felt immensely grateful that she let them stay, but he considered her very lucky and even felt jealous. Why did she get to keep some of her family while Louis lost every single one of them?

 “You really think so?” Harry’s deep voice pulled him back from his thoughts.

“Yes” Mary answered, getting out cups from the cupboard. “I mean, you survived this long on your own as impossible as it sounds. I’m sure you will get back home just fine.”

Louis felt weak in the knees and stepped back from the door quietly. Mary was saying something more, but he did not want to hear it. He did not want her compassion and empty hopes.

Louis turned and left as quietly as he came.

Some half hour later Harry found him in the back garden, sitting on the chair by the table used for summer barbeques in the happier days.

“Hey, Lou” Harry approached him and sat in front of him carefully. “Niall said you went to look for me in the kitchen, but you never came and you were not in the house. You gave me a bit of a scare.”

“Really?” Louis asked not turning to look at Harry.

“Are you ok, Lou?”

Louis stared somewhere in front of him for a while in silence.

“Do you think I killed him?” he finally asked, ignoring Harry’s question.

“You mean that man in the square?”

“Who else could it be?” Louis raised his voice a little, but then stopped himself from shouting, took a deep breath and finally turned to look at Harry. “Yes, that man in the square yesterday.”

“It wasn’t that huge of a brick… and you aren’t that strong… I mean, he was quite a big guy, you know, big guys need other big guys to take them down and… he was also very muscly…”

“What are you even talking about?” Louis asked, exasperated.

“No, I don’t think you did” Harry said, stopping his nonsensical rambling a little embarrassed.

 “Really?”

“Yeah” Harry nodded. “I mean, he was a huge guy, I think it takes more than one blow to the head to… you know…”

Louis nodded and looked down at his hands.

They were silent for a while again, Harry just sitting there, looking at forlorn Louis.

“You and Mary seemed to hit it right off” Louis suddenly said.

Harry laughed and his loud laughter was unexpected even to his own ears. He covered his mouth for a moment until he recovered.

“It’s always you and old ladies, innit?” Louis asked with no humour in his voice, looking at Harry.

“Well, you know me – scrabble and tea with kids and old ladies is my favourite pastime!” Harry laughed. But when Louis maintained his sombre face, a smile vanished from Harry’s face instantly.

“What’s wrong, Lou?”

“Better ask me what’s not wrong!” he said irritated, almost angry.

Harry stared at him for a moment longer, then slowly extended his hand and put it over Louis’ one. Louis didn’t move away from the touch, but he seemed to tense up a little.

“I’m sorry for asking stupid questions” Harry said quietly. “I guess I’m just being stupid in hoping that you’d… that if I ask if you’re ok, one day you’d say ‘yes’.”

“Maybe one day…” Louis said, looking down at Harry’s hand.

Harry rubbed his thumb lightly over the back of Louis’ hand and when Louis didn’t make a move to push Harry’s hand off, Harry suddenly felt brave enough to turn Louis’ palm over and intertwine their fingers.

Louis froze in his seat, starring at their linked hands, his fingers not closing over Harry’s ones. There was a moment’s hesitation in his whole being as if he was considering to jump up and run, but then he exhaled slowly and as if in some miraculous moment of poor judgement he slowly brought his fingers and enclosed Harry’s hand in his.

Harry squeezed Louis’ hand tighter and Louis couldn’t help but glance up. Harry’s big, green eyes caught him by surprise. He was staring at Louis openly, so many emotions were written on his face, but Louis refused to see them.

“Lou, I want to tell you something.”

When there was no response, Harry dropped his gaze for a moment, for a second thinking that maybe this wasn’t the right time after all. But when he lifted his eyes again and looked at Louis, he saw the same boy with bright blue eyes that carried so much pain in them now that was never there before. And that beautiful face he used to kiss all over barely even smiled now.

Was there ever going to be a right time?

They were here alone now – a rare occurrence on its own as they tried to keep close to each other at all times – there was no immediate danger, nobody could see them through the tall fence of a back garden, for the first time in months they had actual beds to sleep in and actual homemade food, and they had a shower!

It was going to take much more than that to lift some of the pain off Louis’ shoulders.

Harry hoped what he was about to say wasn’t going to add up to that weight.

“I’m still… Lou, I still love you.”

Louis stared at him, but then nodded very slightly.

“I love you too, Harry. You’ve been my friend for many years now.”

“No, I’m not talking about friendship, Louis!” Harry said much too loudly and immediately slouched in his seat, fear of being overheard by Mary’s neighbours in the back of his mind. “You know what I’m talking about Lou! I was madly, blindly in love with you. That’s gone. I don’t think anymore that you poop rainbows and kittens. But I still love you so badly. I love you so, so badly…”

Harry got out of breath and just stared at Louis now, pleadingly.

What he was hoping to hear, he wasn’t sure, but Louis wasn’t saying anything at all and it made Harry feel nervous.

“I love you, Lou. And I regret immensely that I just let you go without fighting for you, that I just accepted your decision and didn’t fight for our love!”

There was a lot fear mixed with hope in Harry’s big green eyes, but his whole body now screamed of determination.

“There is nothing to fight for anymore” Louis finally said, sounding dumbstruck.

“No, that’s where you’re wrong!” Harry said, squeezing Louis’ hand tighter, not letting Louis slip out of his grasp just yet.

“Harry…” Louis sounded like he was about to argue, like he was about to throw a hundred and one reason why getting back together was a bad idea, but Harry saw all that coming and didn’t let Louis get out another word.

“Then tell me one thing! One thing only and depending on your answer I’ll leave you be and never again will ask you to be mine. Just tell me one thing!”

“What?”

“Look me in the eyes and honestly, from your very heart tell me you don’t love me like that anymore. Tell me that I’m only your friend. Tell me you don’t want to touch me, kiss me, suck me, fuck me, wake up next to me. Tell me none of that ever crosses your mind!”

Louis stared at him and Harry wasn’t sure how to read the emotions changing on his face. His hand started shaking and he suddenly lowered his head, breaking their eye contact.

Harry waited for a few more seconds, dreading to hear a confirmation of his most feared thoughts, but it never came.

“I cannot deal with this now, Harry…” Louis said, his voice shaky, but the hold on Harry’s hand suddenly tightened tenfold. “I don’t know what I want… after we split up, I never… I never allowed myself to think of you that way anymore…”

“Then do it now! You can have me back if only you want to! Just think about that Lou, that’s all that matters!”

Louis was silent again, his shoulders started trembling a little and Harry got up and pulled him into a tight embrace. Louis didn’t struggle, but he was quite impassive, slouched against Harry’s taller body.

Then the next second Louis was pushing Harry away, panicky look of his face and finally ending the contact of their joint hands. He was shaking his head a little and stepping back towards the house.

“I can’t do it, Harry. I’m sorry.”

Whatever he meant by that, Harry didn’t have the time to ask. Louis already disappeared inside the house leaving Harry to stand alone in the garden.

‘He didn’t say no’ Harry thought to himself, making his shaky legs to move as well.

There was plenty of time to convince Louis he was serious. And maybe with time Louis would realise he still wanted Harry in his life.

‘He didn’t say no.’

***

Liam came down and joined them for lunch. He looked fresh and vibrant after a shower. Maybe the fact that Zayn finally woke up might have contributed to that as well.

Zayn was still asleep, so the rest of the boys sat down to eat with Mary and Zoey. Liam noticed that Louis was suddenly moody again, even though just an hour ago or so he seemed finally slightly happier. He also noticed that Harry was constantly glancing at Louis and if he thought he was being discreet, he was highly mistaken.

Liam suddenly had this uneasy feeling that he was missing something important here, but considering that all his attention has been focused on Zayn since yesterday, it was not surprising. For now, he decided to leave it be. There’s always been tension between those two and even though it was somewhat gone while they were hiding away, didn’t mean things were resolved between them.

Maybe it was just the pure survival instinct that made Louis let Harry closer to himself for the first time after all these years. And Louis almost getting killed yesterday only heightened Harry’s protectiveness and possessiveness that he never quite managed get rid of.

Whatever it was, Liam decided it was not his place to interfere. At least not until it affected their chances of survival.

Mary kept a light chitchat at the table and they still haven’t asked her all the questions they wanted. Yesterday was a blur of Mary’s tears and Zoey’s anguished cries for her mom, a blur of bloodied Zayn, of food and water, of hot shower and sleep. Lots of hours of sleep. Except for Liam. He couldn’t quite relax and kept waking up. He slept on the floor next to Zayn’s bed and throughout the night he constantly kept checking his pulse for signs of life.

So it wasn’t surprising that after lunch he went straight back upstairs and lay down again. Liam fell asleep listening to Zayn’s regular, calm breathing and didn’t wake up until late evening.

When he did, he found Harry and Niall sitting at the end of Zayn’s bed.

“So finally you decided to join us” Niall laughed while Liam sat up stretching lazily.

“You weren’t very quiet” Liam said, but his eyes were fixed upon Zayn. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better” Zayn smiled. “I guess the pills really worked. And before you say anything, I already ate some more soup and drank more tablets, so I’ll be fine for tonight.”

Liam blushed slightly, not expecting Zayn to read him so easily. And also he wondered why he didn’t wake up and slept through all of it.

“Where’s Louis?” he asked, changing the topic.

“He’s helping Mary put Zoey to sleep. Then they’ll come here” Niall said.

“You alright, Harry?” Liam asked and Harry visibly tensed, surprised by the sudden question.

“Y-yeah…” he uttered, not looking Liam in the eyes.

It wasn’t long before Mary and Louis came to join them. Mary met Zayn properly for the first time and Zayn thanked her a million times for letting them stay here and for tending to his wounds.

“Nonsense, darling” Mary said, waving Zayn’s attempts to thank her off. “That’s the least I could do. You brought Zoey back, even though you could have easily left her… I cannot thank you enough, all of you.”

She looked at all the boys gently, and for Harry it felt refreshing to finally have an actual adult in the room who, he liked to pretend, would give all answers to all their problems.

“No news from your husband yet?” Liam asked carefully, looking at Mary. She shook her head.

“He went to our daughter’s flat when we heard people talking that Detroit was finally empty from the soldiers and safe to go. He obviously didn’t find her there. I just don’t want to think why he hasn’t come home yet…”

“He doesn’t have a mobile phone?” Harry prompted gently. Mary shook her head again.

“We only have landline at home, never even tried to learn how to use these new phones” she said, clear self-reproach in her voice. “And well, even the landlines, as you know, are not working anymore…”

They were silent for a moment, but then Mary seemed to compose herself and lifted her eyes to look at the boys again.

“So, I suppose you boys have some questions for me?” she said, looking a little calmer now.

“Yes” Liam said, suddenly feeling very apprehensive. “We have no idea what’s happening here in USA or the rest of the world. We just know bits and pieces, something about the Awakening Army taking over USA.”

“That’s more or less correct” Mary nodded. “Unfortunately for us, they have taken over the USA and now everything has changed. But I think the only thing that concerns you boys is your way back home.”

“We were thinking of going to New York to try and see if we could get a plane from there” Harry said and his face fell a little when Mary let out a small laugh.

“No, dear, I’m afraid you cannot do that. Every citizen has to have a Residence Card. Or if you’re a foreigner, you have to have a Visitor’s Card. You have none of that and everyone, who’s not registered with the Army, is getting arrested. Lots of foreigners have already been killed. If they get a hold of somewhat famous or well-known people, they get to execute them on live TV.”

All five boys stared at her dumbstruck. It felt so surreal to hear that.

“How can it be legal?” Niall asked.

“The Awakening Army took over the entire country, my boy, and I assure you, it is by no means legal” Mary said quietly. “If nobody could stop that from happening, public executions will not stop just because some free EU countries will condemn them.”

“That’s… disgusting…” Louis said, looking shocked.

“You’re lucky you haven’t been captured” Mary said sadly. “There was a man, an older man, a singer from England, they caught him trying to fly back home. They paraded him through the streets of Washington and shot him dead on the lawn in front of the White House. Well, it’s a Red House now…”

At this point, none of the boys could form any questions to her, so Mary just continued quietly.

“Me and my husband got the Residence Cards, but our daughter was afraid to go. She married a French man and she wasn’t sure what was going to happen to her and to Zoey. Zoey doesn’t have the Residence Card as well, but the Army doesn’t seem to really care about children, I think I will go with Zoey and register her.”

“So what happened to Detroit?” Zayn asked. “Why did it get destroyed?”

“They destroyed a lot of cities that were bordering with Canada.”

“Why?”

“Because Canada is free. So far, it hasn’t been attacked.”

“So if it’s free…” Louis said, trying to fully form the idea in his head.

“It’s free and it’s your only chance of getting home” Mary confirmed, nodding. “I heard rumours that this is the place to go to escape the Army.”

“Rumours?” Liam said, sounding unconvinced.

“Yes, but there’s no smoke without the fire” Mary said. “I know these are just rumours, but then why destroy the entire boarder with Canada? Why guard it heavily? They don’t want people to escape. A lot of foreigners have already been captured while trying to go there and a lot sneaked through. I myself heard on TV the Army saying something along the lines of the enemy Canada. I’m sure if you go to Toronto, you’ll find a UK refugee camp and will get home from there. I do know there’s a French refugee camp, my son-in-law tried to flee there…”

They didn’t dare to ask what happened to him.

“So, basically, we go to Toronto, if not – we’re screwed…” Harry mused loudly, his shoulders slumping.

“What about Europe?” Louis asked. “What’s happening there?”

“War” Mary said simply. “Though, as far as I heard, things are not as bad as here. UK so far stands untouched, most countries in Europe as well, but those bordering with Russia, as far as I know, are in trouble…”

“But we can go home?” Niall asked, his voice small and scared. “If we manage to get to Toronto, we’ll be able to fly home?”

“Yes, most probably you will” Mary nodded.

That seemed to take some anxiousness from Niall’s face at least.

“I’m afraid there’s not much I can help you with in advising how to get to Toronto” Mary said. “I don’t know much myself. But I do know that the boarder is heavily guarded, so it’s not going to be easy.”

She was silent for a moment, looking uncertain.

“I can give you a map, you could decide on the route before leaving. The closest way is through New York state, through Niagara falls. But if it’s the easiest and fastest way, probably it’s not the safest…”

“We’ll look at the map and think about it” Liam said, sounding suddenly tired, even though he slept half of the day.

“Is there really nowhere we could go to make a phone call?” Niall asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid not” Mary said. “At the moment phones are not working, internet as well. We only have one TV channel that’s working and it only shows the Awakening Army’s selected news and whatnot. We’re properly cut off from the rest of the world.”

And with that nobody felt any more need to talk.

“If you boys have no more questions, I think I’ll go to sleep as well” Mary said, standing up. “Help yourself with anything from the fridge if you want. Goodnight.”

The boys bade her goodnight as well and when she disappeared from the room, an eerie silence was reigning for long minutes.

“Well, at least we know where exactly to go to get home now” Harry said, finally disrupting the silence. “We managed to arrive here without being caught even though we passed two trucks with the Awakening Army’s soldiers in them. And now we don’t look like we climbed out of the gutter anymore, that should raise even less suspicion.”

“We need a plan” Zayn said. “A solid plan A and a solid plan B. We cannot just get up and drive up there.”

Everyone nodded, though nobody could offer anything of importance to say.

“Let’s just turn in for tonight” Louis said finally. “We’re all still tired and we don’t even have a map yet.”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “And Zayn is still only recovering.”

“I’m fine” Zayn muttered, but even his protest wasn’t very energetic or angry.

“Right then, have a good night, lads” Niall stood slowly. “See you tomorrow.”

“Night” the other four echoed and Niall disappeared through the door.

He got to sleep in Zoey’s room as Zoey was sleeping with her grandmother. Zayn and Liam got a small guest room while Louis and Harry got to sleep in the living room downstairs.

Mary kept all the blinds shut during the day and was worrying about neighbours noticing anything out of the ordinary. The boys were told not to peek out through the windows – if they got noticed and reported, all of them were in big danger.

So when Mary prepared the living room for Harry and Louis, she shut both the day curtains and the thick night curtains immediately and instructed the boys to never open them.

That was fine with everyone. None of the safety measures seemed over the top to any of them.

“Well then, I guess we’re going to bed as well” Harry said, glancing at Louis nervously.

Louis stood up and, ignoring Harry, nodded towards Liam.

“You slept on the floor all night, if you want, I can take your place and you can get some sleep in a proper bed in the living room” he offered.

“Nah, I’m ok” Liam shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Louis seemed to hesitate another second, but then uttered a firm ‘goodnight then’ and turned to leave. Harry wasn’t far behind, though.

They descended the flight of stairs in darkness and when they reached the living room, Louis only turned on a lamp that was sitting on a small coffee table next to the sofa. Harry followed him inside and closed the door. Louis seemed to be keen on pretending he didn’t notice Harry at all. He was slowly fiddling with the sheets on the sofa. Mary had one that could be unfolded and used as a bed, so they were left to sleep next to each other, much to Harry’s delight.

“Do you want anything to eat before we turn in?” he asked Louis.

“No, thanks, I’m still full after dinner” Louis said, but didn’t turn to look at Harry.

“I meant what I said, Lou. I’m not giving up on you” Harry said.

Louis glanced at him with uncertainty etched on his face, but didn’t say anything. Harry sighted and walked all the way to the bed now. He took off his t-shirt and socks, undid the buttons of his trousers and slid them off, folding them neatly and putting on the chair, and then he took of his pants and placed them on top of the rest of his clothes.

When he straightened again, he saw Louis now facing him and staring at him openly, his mouth slightly agape.

“What are you doing?” Lois asked, his voice sounding scratchy.

“I’m going to sleep.”

“Like that…?” Louis gestured in a wage wave of his hand at Harry.

“Yeah” Harry shrugged. “That’s how I always sleep.”

Without waiting for an answer, Harry lifted the sheets and slipped under them, lying on his back and folding his hands under his head. He looked at Louis, who was still standing next to the bed on his side, looking slightly shocked. For a moment Harry felt smug that he rendered Louis speechless which in itself was a very hard task to manage. And he was happy Louis didn’t question the fact that not yesterday, neither any other day since Detroit Harry didn’t feel the need to sleep naked. Most probably because it was the very first time since Detroit that they got to sleep in a clean, comfortable bed.

It’s been quite a few years since Louis saw Harry naked and Harry wondered if his malnourished, untrained, weak body still looked appealing. His ribs were showing much too prominently to be considered sexy at all and his arms, that used to be muscular and sculpted like one of the Greek’s ancient athletes, now looked limp and scrawny. But going by Louis’ reaction, Harry hoped he still looked at least somewhat good.

Louis finally moved and undressed, leaving only his pants on. He climbed in the bed, avoiding looking at Harry and turned off the light.

It was quiet for a while, but none of the boys were sleeping. Louis turned his back to Harry and lay stiff on his side. After his eyes adjusted to the dark, Harry could make out the shape of Louis’ body – his hair sticking out off a pillow, a curve of his left shoulder that ran smoothly in a curved line then dipped lower where his waist started and then rose again, rounding Louis’ perfectly shaped ass. He was much too thin now for Harry’s liking, but still the only human being on earth he ever blindly, madly desired.

Harry didn’t even consider it in his head, before he finally turned on his side and slipped his hand around Loius’ waist, pushing Louis towards himself until he felt the other boys’ back and ass press fully to his own naked body. There were only Louis’ pants that separated them from fully feeling each other and Harry’s cock got trapped almost adjustment to the entire curve of Louis’ butt cheeks. Louis let out a surprised humph, but then remind completely silent. His body felt tense in Harry’s grasp.

Harry put his chin on Louis’ shoulder, his lips a ghost of a touch on Louis’ ear.

“You only need to say a word” Harry whispered lowly into Louis’ ear and he felt how Louis’ whole body shivered. It’s always been Louis’ weakness – he responded so strongly to whispers and feathery kisses to his ear – and Harry knew he was devious to exploit that now. But all was fair in love and war.

Harry didn’t say what he meant exactly. Weather Louis needed to say a word to stop it or to continue. It was all the same anyway, because Louis was already tense and slightly shivering in his arms, and from the now somewhat ragged breathing, Harry knew Louis wanted the closeness. Craved it.

Harry started rubbing his palm over Louis’ lower belly, close to his cock, but not touching it and it felt so good just to have Louis like that again – compliant in his arms, melting at his touch, breathing becoming heavier and heavier with each passing second.

Harry kissed Louis’ ear and Louis suddenly grabbed Harry’s arm and stopped it midway. He slipped his hand inside Harry’s and entwined their fingers, then slowly turned his head back to look at the boy behind him. Even in the darkness of the room Harry could make out Louis’ bright blue eyes and he wasn’t sure what exactly he saw in them, but there was not a shred of a doubt in Harry’s actions when he pushed forward and brought their lips together.

Even after so long kissing Louis felt exactly the same – mind-numbing and exhilarating. Every cell in Harry’s body felt like exploding into a billion tinier pieces out of pure joy and he pressed harder on Louis’ lips, his grip on their entwined hands felt almost painful.

“Lou” Harry pleaded, but for what, he wasn’t exactly sure. Or maybe it was a silent prayer of thanks, whispered after insufferably long draught, when even a tiniest drop of water felt like salvation.

Harry was fully hard by now and his long, thick and throbbing penis was pressed so firmly in between Louis’ ass cheeks that Harry thought it must have probably left an imprint. Judging by how Louis now pushed himself back on Harry’s cock, Harry knew Louis didn’t mind.

“I want you so bad” Harry croaked, his voice going five octaves lower, sounding gruff and deep like never before, clouded by animalistic desire.

“Please” Louis uttered, his voice sounding desperate. “Oh God, yes, please…”

It was all Harry needed.

He pushed Louis to lie on his stomach and threw the blanket off of them both with one swift move. Then he grabbed Louis’ pants and took them off hastily, struggling to completely get rid of them as they got tangled at Louis’ feet.

Suddenly the room was lit by a lamp and Harry jumped, half expecting somebody to be standing in the doorway, though he didn’t hear the door open. But the door was closed and when he turned back to Louis, he saw the other boy staring at him, his face illuminated by the lamp on the coffee table.  

Louis’ bright blue eyes were heavy with lust, but sharp and alive, piercing Harry to the very core.

Harry stopped midway and stared back, his penis now standing menacingly and already leaking with precum. Louis looked Harry in the eyes, then his gaze dropped lower and was fixed firmly on Harry’s penis. Louis slowly drew his lower lip under his teeth, wetting it and slightly biting on it at the same time. Then he suddenly looked back Harry in the eyes and that seemed to bring Harry back from his trance.

When they were still together, they tried going all the way just three times, two of which was Louis trying to fuck Harry. They were two teenagers then, trying to make sense of how to fuck and failing at it, Harry stammering and struggling all the way while trying to penetrate Louis and Louis trying not to finish too early and failing miserably, because the tightness of the muscles and the way they closed down on his cock was much too mind-wrecking for his inexperienced teenage body.

And now there was so much lust and desire in Louis’ eyes, no hesitation, no second thoughts – just an open invitation and surrender to Harry’s taller and much better sculpted body, looming over him.

Harry didn’t need a verbal invitation – he crawled forward and Louis met him halfway, grabbing Harry’s ass with one hand and pushing him the rest of the way forward. The next second Louis’ mouth was over Harry’s penis and Harry moaned, not able to hold it back.

In a few heartbeats Louis managed to leave as much saliva on Harry’s cock as possible and drew back, laying back down on his stomach, drawing his knees to his chest and spreading his legs as wide as humanly possible. Harry dropped on all four in front of Louis’ ass and licked it, spit on it and licked it more. He wet his finger and circled the entrance.

He tried fucking Louis just once and since then he didn’t gain any more experience in anal sex, but instead he gained a lot of confidence and he was determined not to fuck up, not to hurt Louis and not to leave him unsatisfied by the end of it.

The finger went inside with some resistance, but with more saliva and more impatient probing, Harry got it all in and then started circling his finger round Louis’ walls.

Louis let out a high-pitched moan.

“Whatever, Harry” Louis uttered, already sounding out of breath. “Just do it, please, or I’ll go crazy if you don’t!”

Harry didn’t know what came over him. He wasn’t entirely sure if this meek preparation was enough, if Louis would manage to take in all of him, because Harry knew he had a big penis (he was bloody proud of it), they had no lube, not even a drop.

But he felt like he would go mad with lust and need to own Louis if he didn’t claim him right now.

Harry pushed the head of his leaking cock through the first circle of muscles and with some resistance he popped inside and then it was all a blur for both of them.

Louis’ hands gave out and he collapsed on the bed, his ass in the air, his eyes closed shut, his mouth wide open for a silent moan that never came. Harry pushed and pushed, until he was all the way in, until the head of his long and thick cock was so deep inside Louis that he thought it would touch Louis’ heart, until the contractions of Louis’ muscled sent Harry weak in his knees from pleasure and he grabbed Louis’ hips tightly and pushed Louis on himself even more, going one or two inches even deeper.

Louis’ muscles shivered and cramped, and he let out a wine Harry wasn’t sure was entirely from pleasure. He might have as well be hurting Louis, but was too much overcome by the shock of ultimate intimacy that he craved and dreamed for years that he couldn’t distinguish between the sounds of pain and pleasure anymore. His own vision swam in front of him and the promise not to finish before time seemed laughable now.

And while they were linked together as one, Harry still struggling to catch his breath and not come inside Louis the next second, his hands an iron grip on Louis’ hips, and while Louis was almost on the brink of a breakdown, brought by a piercing pain in his ass and a desperate need for Harry to get his bloody big hands on Louis’ cock and for Harry to just freakin start moving, because Louis was going crazy from need he suppressed and suppressed and suppressed over and over again for the last few years – a loud, demanding knocking hammered down on the door.

Harry yelped and jumped back, popping out of Louis’ ass with such force that Louis thrust a fist in his mouth to prevent himself from screaming out of pain from a sudden, harsh move, but also out of anger that he wanted – needed with every single atom in his deprived body – to keep feeling Harry inside him.

The desperate knocking repeated a few seconds later and only then Harry and Louis understood that whoever it was, they were knocking on the front door and not on the living room door where they were.

Harry took his cock in his hand absentmindedly, probably not sure even himself what he was doing, but he didn’t expect to suddenly be overcome by an orgasm that swept his body in a hot wave and made him collapse on his knees on the bed, coming in long white spurts.

Somewhere in his orgasm-clouded mind he heard the knocking repeat itself for a third time and at the same time somebody’s heavy footsteps were heard from the staircase, practically running down towards the door.

Harry opened his eyes and looked back at Louis, desperate to make sense of what was happening.

Lois was sitting on the bed now, his sturdy pale cock still hard and erect, a very slight trickle of blood was running down one of his thighs.

They heard the keys turning in the lock and the door being opened.

And then Mary’s scream reached their ears.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm… can it be called a cliffhanger? Lol 
> 
> I’m going on holiday last week of July, so I really hope to update before then :) I’ll be stuck in a paradise only with Wi-Fi on my phone :P 
> 
> Comments, please?!? ^o^


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, quite unexpectedly, there’s been a huge gap between the last chapter and this one… Life’s been shit, I lost a family member and well… that’s life, things like that happen… nothing to do about it… 
> 
> Sorry, this chapter is kind of shit. Nothing much happens, but then again, I do hope that the ones that are reading this story will enjoy this chapter despite everything… It’s not my best, but I hope it’s not the worst…

 

At first Niall wasn’t sure what woke him up. He thought he dreamed somebody loudly running down the stairs, something banging, but when he was about to turn on the other side and continue sleeping, the scream that reached the room he was in was much too real. Niall sat up in bed, gripping the blanket in his fist and listened.

There definitely was some commotion downstairs, Mary was shouting, though thankfully it didn’t sound as if somebody was attacking her. Slightly comforted by that thought Niall got out of bed and quickly put on his trousers and a shirt. He stumbled out of the room and stopped immediately upon seeing Zoey standing in the doorway of her grandmother’s bedroom. She looked very scared.

“Zoey, go back inside and close the door” Niall said, trying to sound calm. He would have taken her with himself, but he didn’t know what exactly was happening downstairs, and he didn’t want to put her in danger.

“Zoey, please, go back in and close the door” he said again when the girl didn’t move. “I promise, everything’s OK!”

“Promise?” she asked quietly, looking at Niall with her big blue eyes.

“I promise.”

Niall had no idea what was happening, but whatever it was, he was sure she didn’t need to witness. Zoey nodded slightly, stepped back inside the room and shut the door.

“What’s happening?” Liam’s voice reached him unexpectedly and Niall turned to see Liam standing in the doorway of the guest room.

“No idea” Niall shrugged nervously. “I’m going downstairs to check.”

“I’m coming with you” Liam said.

Niall heard Zayn’s voice from the inside of the room, but couldn’t make out the words.

“You’re staying in bed!” Liam shouted, trying to look back inside and Niall was surprised to hear Liam this harsh and angry. “I’ll be back soon!”

Liam closed the door determined and they both went down the stairs. They could easily make out Mary’s voice now and another male one which was just moaning. But when they both finally reached the bottom of the stairs, they stopped out of shock.

There was an old man sitting on the threshold and a pool of blood was already gathering around him. His face was impossible to recognize – both eyes barely open at all from being swollen immensely, bruises all over the face, clothes ripped to shreds and barely hanging on the old, weak body, exposing the bruises on the arms and torso. The sight was frightening.

Mary was kneeling beside the man, crying hysterically and both boys assumed that this must have been Mary’s husband. Liam came over the shock quickly and kneeled beside her, gently placing his arm on her shoulder to get her attention.

“We need to get him inside, Mary” he said to her and the old woman managed a weak nod.

Suddenly they heard another door opening and turned to see Harry and Louis getting out of the living room. They both looked red in their faces, their hair messed up, their breathing laboured and they looked so out of it, but Liam and Niall could barely spare them a moment’s glance and couldn’t dwell on it.

“Come on, Niall, help me” Liam gestured to the old man with his head and Niall hurried to obey. They lifted the old man, half-carrying him on each of his side and took him up the stairs to the main bathroom. Harry helped Mary up and together with Louis they followed the other two boys. Glancing back Liam thought he saw Louis limping slightly, but the task at hand was demanding his undivided attention and he had to focus on that.

They went to the bathroom and Mary, finally getting a hold on herself, helped Liam to undress her husband down to his pants and help him climb in the shower. She washed him while  Liam helped him to remain seated and Niall disappeared for a moment to inform Zayn that all was fine and to calm Zoey down and assure her that her grandma was OK.

Harry, upon Mary’s instruction, went to fetch some hot water and Louis was rummaging through the cabinets to find bandages and antiseptic cream. When she was finished washing the blood off of her husband, Liam helped him out and dried him and Mary, upon Harry’s return, washed the open wounds with a clean cloth soaked in hot water – exactly like she did to Zayn. Then she put antiseptic on the wounds and bandaged them.

“Niall, dear” she said to him when he came back. “I’m sorry, but could you move Zoey to sleep back in her room and you could go sleep with Harry and Louis in the living room? The sofa should be big enough for the three of you. I don’t want Zoey to see her granddad like this…”

“Sure, Mary, no problem” Niall said, nodding.

“Zoey…” Mary’s husband uttered, trying to lift his head, but having difficulties with it.

“She’s here, Joseph” Mary gushed, leaning down closer to him. “Don’t worry, she’s here safe and sound.”

When her husband didn’t say anything else, she looked back at Niall again.

“Could I ask you to please stay with her until she falls asleep? Make sure she doesn’t go back to my bedroom to check on me?”

“Sure, don’t worry” Niall said. “I’ll make sure she sleeps.”

Niall then left the room and Harry stood in the doorway to watch the hall. When Niall and Zoey moved to Zoey’s bedroom, only then they helped Joseph to Mary’s and his bedroom and laid him on the bed. Mary gave him antibiotics with some water and as soon as he drank it and laid on the bed, he seemed to be falling asleep immediately.

“Will you be fine, Mary?” Harry asked, concerned. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you, dear” she said, sounding exhausted. “I want to lie down, I feel drained…”

“If you need anything, just call us” Harry said and the other three nodded.

“Thank you, dear” Mary said and the boys finally left the room. Liam went back to Zayn and Harry and Louis went back to the living room. When Harry closed the door behind them, silence finally settled in around them and they both stood awkwardly, not looking at each other. Harry’s gaze fell on the sofa and the sheets in total disarray, and in the middle of the bed he saw a small spot of blood.

“Fuck, Lou” Harry gasped, looking horrified. “I hurt you! You didn’t say I hurt you!”

Harry looked at Louis, who for a moment just starred confusedly back at Harry. But then his gaze fell to where Harry’s was previously and when he saw blood, understandment dawned on his face.

“It’s nothing” he waved Harry’s concern away. “It was a bit too dry, is all.”

“Lou…” Harry uttered, but when Louis smiled at him, some of Harry’s worry died away.

“And I actually forgot, how big you are” he whispered as if embarrassed to say it out loud. “At least how big you are for me…”

Harry, despite the fact that he was attempting to fuck Louis just some hour ago, actually blushed hearing Louis say that and then stepped closer to him.

“I’m still sorry” he said, smiling down gently at the older boy.

“Don’t be, love” Louis answered, lifted his hand slowly and put it to rest on Harry’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb just the slightest. “I’m fine.”

They stood like that for a moment, looking each other in the eyes, Louis gently stroking Harry’s cheek with his thumb and Harry putting his hands around Louis’ waist. Louis’ hand sneaked higher and he started playing with the now short Harry’s curls.

“I need to go to wash the sheet” Harry said reluctantly, not wanting to let go. “Niall might come in any second…”

“Oh, I completely forgot about Niall” Louis said, looking crestfallen suddenly brought back to their present situation. His hand fell from Harry’s curls and he stepped back. Harry loosened his hold around Louis’ waist, but didn’t completely let go just yet.

“Lou, I need to know…” Harry said carefully, looking Louis straight in the eyes. “What we just did… what happened… it wasn’t a one-time thing, was it?”

He looked uncertainly at Louis, hope clearly visible in his eyes. Louis looked at his hands for a second and when he lifted his eyes again, his face looked determined.

“No, it wasn’t a one off. I’d like a second chance, if you’d give it to me.”

Harry gaped at him for a second dumbstruck, but then a huge grin spread on his face and he jumped on Louis, spreading his arms to envelop him in a hug, but Louis stepped back.

“I just need to know one thing, Harry.”

“OK” Harry said, his happiness suddenly deflating.

“How can you forgive me just so… so easily, after everything I’ve put you through? Do you honestly feel no resentment at all towards me?”

Louis looked Harry straight in the eyes and Harry could still see so much uncertainty etched on Louis’ beautiful face.

“To be honest, Lou, I was never really mad at you in the first place…”

“How come? You should’ve been! I know if I were in your place, I would’ve been so angry!”

“Well, I was angry at some point, when you were all over… over her during the tour” Harry still couldn’t force himself to say Eleanor’s name most of the time, even though she was honestly a nice person. “But I knew how much more they pushed you than me. Louis, I was still too new and naïve in that business and still very, very young, I didn’t understand a lot back then, but despite all that I still knew how much they were on your back rather than mine. They left me in peace most of the time and since you were older and more outspoken, they took to breaking you. And with time you cracked.”

Louis looked down at his feet then and Harry saw how he clenched his fists.

“I wasn’t unaware of all the meetings you privately had with the management” Harry continued. “And with each one of those you became quieter around me and more detached that even the other guys started noticing. I don’t know what they were telling you, but it got to you with time, they broke you away from me and I… I just let it happen. I let you go without a fight, without any support when subconsciously I knew you needed it from me.”

Louis finally looked up at Harry and Harry felt a pang in his heart seeing Louis’ eyes were getting teary.

“They were saying that by being with you I’ll ruin your future as a singer, the whole band’s future – nobody wants to have gay idols.”

Harry nodded, wanting to step closer, but Louis took a small step back again, showing he wasn’t finished.

“They said you were only seventeenat the time, that I was older, of age and I shouldn’t confuse you, shouldn’t get involved with a minor…”

“A minor?!” Harry gaped at Louis incredulously. “We were both teenagers!”

“Yes, but the fact was you were not legal yet and I was older.”

“That’s… that’s just stupid” Harry was grasping for words. Louis shrugged.

“I was also young and stupid, Harry. In the end there was just so much I could take…”

Harry stared at him, trying to force a lump in his throat back down.

“You should’ve told me.”

Louis shook his head.

“Now I would, but back then… well, back then we both were different from what we are now five years behind us.”

Harry looked at Louis taking all of him in – his small, now slightly hunched posture, the curve of his ass and his smallish fingers, the messy, unevenly cut hair and those bright blue eyes, and sharp, though too hollow cheekbones.  

“I’m still sorry I didn’t stand up for us both and I let you leave. But I could never hate you for what you did. I expected you to always solve our problems and stand up for both of us and I shouldn’t have been surprised this type of one-sided commitment wore you down. But I’m the luckiest man alive right now, because I get to have you back.”

“That you do” Louis said quietly and finally stepped closer to Harry. “And I’m sorry for everything, Harry, and I’m so fucking happy you pushed me this time, because I got you back. I wouldn’t have ever dared to ask for a second chance myself.”

Harry grabbed Louis’ hand in his and drew it to his lips, placing a kiss to the back of Louis’ hand gently.

“All good?”

“Yeah, Curly, all good.”

They starred at each other for a few more seconds and Harry finally reluctantly let go of Louis’ hand with a sign.

“I’ll wash that sheet quickly” he said. “I really don’t want Niall or Mary seeing it.”

Louis nodded and watched Harry disappear outside the door. Harry came back just in a few minutes and they lay down on the sofa. Harry took the left side of the bed and Louis curled up next to him, putting his head on Harry’s shoulder and circling his left arm around Harry’s waist. Harry buried his nose in Louis’ hair, inhaling the scent he missed so much and trying not to be too obvious about it.

They lay like that for a while, just absorbing the closeness of each other that they were deprived for so long.

“I miss them so much” Louis said quietly and Harry felt Louis’ grip on his t-shirt tighten.

Harry didn’t need to ask who Louis was talking about and he felt unspeakable rage towards those Awakening Army soldiers who aimed their guns at the audience that night. He was still desperately trying to think of anything comforting to say when Louis spoke again.

“I just hope they shot me mom first… I cannot imagine how it would have felt like to watch your six children being killed and be utterly helpless… I can’t understand how–“ Louis’ voice broke and a sob managed to find its way out his throat before he put a hand over his mouth to silence himself.

Harry tightened his hold on Louis, trying not to cry himself, but unavoidably getting very upset. Louis withdrew his hand from his face after a few moments and took in a deep, shuddering breath.

“What kind of person do you have to be to see a baby and feel nothing while pulling a trigger?” he asked, his voice sounding very weak and quiet, his hand on Harry’s chest trembling.

“I wouldn’t call them people at all, Lou” Harry uttered, feeling completely useless at that moment.

“I’m afraid to lose you too…” Louis confessed, starring somewhere at Harry’s chest, but the grip he had on Harry’s shirt only tightened desperately and Harry saw how much Louis tried not to let fear show on his face.

Harry hugged Louis tighter and placed a kiss on his head. He didn’t say anything, because he didn’t want to lie. Harry could have promised Louis that they’ll be OK, but they had so many close calls, they’re so close to death every day that even never ending optimistic nature Harry had wasn’t enough to fool him into believing they’ll be having a happy ending. So lying to Louis about it was out of question.

“I’m scared to lose you too, Lou” was what Harry said instead. “But whatever happens, I swear, I’ll do my best to protect us all.”

“I know you will” Louis said and then suddenly smiled. “That’s also what scares me, Harry – your altruistic, idealistic nature.”

“I’m not–“ Harry started, but Louis suddenly lifted his head and kissed him.

“Let’s not argue” he said, looking Harry in the eyes.

He laid his head back down on Harry’s shoulder and they both kept quiet after that.  

And that’s how Niall found them fifteen minutes later when he barged into the living room without knocking. When he saw his two band mates lying in each other’s arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he stopped dead in his track.

“Um…” Niall said, obviously struggling with what to say.

“We left some space for you” Harry said nonchalantly, tightening his hold on Louis at the same time.

“Oh…” Niall took a few tentative steps towards the sofa, but stopped again, starring at Louis’ hand on Harry’s waist.

“I’m not gonna pretend I don’t see anything” he finally said. “You’ve barely talked to each other and now you’re stuck together like… like whatever that sticks together! What’s happening?”

Louis all of a sudden felt shy and hid his face in Harry’s shoulder, but Harry smirked, his dimples suddenly appearing on his cheeks and he couldn’t keep his grin off his face.

“Me and Lou are back together” he said happily.

“Are you serious?” Niall asked, sounding sceptical.

“Very” Harry confirmed, huge smile never leaving his face.

“For real?”

“Yeah!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really” Harry laughed.

“Seriously, Niall, it’s not a hard concept to grasp” Louis finally interjected, glancing back at Niall.

“Fucking hell” Niall exhaled, still starring at his two friends. “THAT’S AMAZING!”

The sudden outburst made both Harry and Louis jump and the next second Niall was on them, hugging them both in a breath-taking hug.

“I’m so happy for you, guys!” Niall said, sounding close to tears. “I thought you were done for good! But I’m so freakin happy, you deserve to be together, oh my God!”

“Oi, Niall, calm down” Louis laughed and managed to extract himself from a bone-crushing hug Niall had on him and Harry.

“It’s just…” Niall finally let them go and sat down on the bed, still looking very excited. “All these months after Detroit were, you know… and you two went through so much and you wanted to be together so badly, but you never could, and I just… Shit, sorry, guys, I know I’m not making any sense, but I’m just so happy for both of you!”

“It’s fine, Niall, thanks” Harry smiled and rubbed Niall’s arm.

“When did it happen?” Niall asked.

“Today” Harry smiled sheepishly. Louis smiled and pecked Harry on the lips.

“Liam and Zayn will be stoked to hear it too!”

“Umm, Niall, if you don’t mind, just don’t say anything in front of Mary, please” Louis said. “She’s an old lady and you never know how she’d feel about it, and since we’re in her house and she’s helping us–“

“Yeah, sure, Louis” Niall nodded, suddenly sobering up. “Of course.”

The three of them fell silent now, suddenly reminded of their current situation and the uncertainty about their future they were always in.

“Let’s go to sleep then” Harry said. “We all need rest.”

Niall took his space on the right side of the bed and they turned off the light.

For the first time in months Louis slept peacefully without any dreams. He felt Harry’s breaths on his forehead and Harry’s heartbeat under his palm, and suddenly it became the axis around which Louis’ whole world was turning again.

***

The house was eerily quiet in the morning. Harry, Louis and Niall stayed in bed until late in the morning, but finally when the clock was nearing midday, they got out of bed and headed for the kitchen with empty stomachs. Since Mary did tell them to help themselves whenever they would get hungry, the guys got out some bread and cheese and made sandwiches. Louis boiled some water and prepared tea for the three of them.

Harry sat close to Louis throughout the breakfast and just kept staring at him and Niall didn’t have the heart to tell him he was painfully obvious. They were alone after all, so he was happy his two friends could have a moment of piece together. He could almost pretend they were just having breakfast somewhere in one of the stadium’s backstage rooms before the show.

After they washed the dishes and tidied up they went back to the living room. Niall turned the TV on, but, as Mary had said before, there was just one channel working. It was showing some propaganda about the Awakening Army that none of the guys wanted to see, so Niall just turned the TV off.  

They didn’t want to go check up on Liam and Zayn as they wanted them to have all the rest they could and didn’t want to wake them without any reason. But somewhere later in the afternoon Liam came down together with Zayn.

“Hey, you’re up!” Louis said, surprised.

“Yeah” Zayn smiled proudly. “I feel better today!”

Zayn’s nose was twice its normal size and his wrist looked swollen, red and painful. It was bandaged and Zayn was cradling it to his chest carefully, obviously still in pain, but he looked rested and for the first time fully alert after the attack.

“Did anyone see Mary at all today?” Harry asked.

“I heard her and Zoey walking around in the hall, but I think they stayed in Mary’s bedroom all afternoon” Liam said.

“D’you think her husband’s going to be alright?” Niall asked. “He looked pretty bad yesterday…”

“He should be” Liam said, but a silent ‘I hope’ could be heart behind his hesitation.

They settled down in the living room on the sofa and Harry immediately leaned into Louis, making himself comfortable and resting his head on Louis’ shoulder. Liam and Zayn looked at them surprised. After a moment of silence, Liam cleared his throat and looked like he wanted to say something, but Zayn beat him to it.

“Glad to see some things never change” Zayn said, smirking.

Louis flipped him off without even turning to look at his friend.

“Don’t be jealous” he said, making grabby hands for Harry’s hand and intertwining their fingers. That did shut Zayn up, but the smirk faltered only for a second.

***

Mary came down only late in the afternoon. She looked tired and cheerless. She stood in the doorway to the living room and looked at the five boys, wringing her hands absentmindedly.

“Is everything alright, Mary?” Liam asked carefully.

“Yes… yes, all is good, just… My husband wants to talk to all of you.”

The guys nodded and followed Mary upstairs to her bedroom. Zoey wasn’t around, only Mary’s husband was lying in bed. He looked battered and exhausted, but his eyes looked alert.

The boys gathered in the room around the bed and stood uncertainly, glancing back at Mary who now avoided meeting their eyes altogether.

“Hello, boys” Joseph said in a gruff voice. It was still a little hard for him to talk. “Mary said you brought Zoey back home to us.”

The boys all nodded.

“You have no idea how much that means to us and how grateful we are” he said and extended his hand to Mary, but she turned herself away from her husband and pursed her lips into a thin line.

“Well…” Joseph lowered his trembling hand on the bed, saving his strength. “I don’t want you to think us ungrateful, but… the thing is, these are extremely dangerous times and by keeping you here me and Mary and Zoey are in a lot of danger…”

Harry felt cold dread wash through him hearing these words, but he still hoped that it wasn’t heading the way he thought it was.

“We’re gonna give you enough money for gasoline, give you food and some medicine for your friend” he motioned with his head to Zayn, “but I’m afraid you’ll have to leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow with the first dawn would be best.”

He looked at the boys one by one as if waiting for an answer.

"I'm really sorry about that..." he finally added, looking at the boys and then at Mary.

“It’s OK” Liam was the first one to find his voice. “We understand.”

“Glad to hear that, boys. Mary will prepare you some food and medicine for the trip and anything else you might need. I’ll be up to see you out tomorrow morning.”

Liam and Harry were the only ones to manage weak nods and Joseph half turned in his bed, showing that the conversation was over. They all shuffled out of the bedroom followed by Mary and only when they reached downstairs Mary finally spoke to them, still not managing to meet their eyes.

“I’m so sorry, boys, I really am” she said, sounding heartbroken. “I tried to reason with him, but he was unmovable…”

“It’s OK, Mary” Harry said quietly. “He’s just protecting his family, I understand that. After all, we’re just five strangers to him.”

“But still…”

Mary didn’t finish the sentence and finally just sighted heavily.

“I’ll prepare you lots of food for the journey, medicine for Zayn, some blankets and some jackets for you. If there’s anything else you think you might need, just tell me.”

“Sure, thank you, Mary” Harry said.

She left to go to the kitchen and all five boys went in the living room. They all sat down and for a while nobody said anything.

What was there to say?

They needed to have a big dinner and go to sleep early. They had to get up very early in the morning and face the world again.

And after a short interlude of safety and rest, that thought was terrifying.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, my loves, comments and kudos would be so much appreciated! 
> 
> I will not make any promises this time when next chapter is going to be up, but it’s definitely coming! Hope you’ll keep reading… 
> 
> All the love…


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter - offensive racial slurs! And… a million spelling mistakes! Sorry for that, I’m not a native speaker and I don’t have a beta… 
> 
> So anyway :) Some people were still worried about me killing any of the boys in this story and I thought I’d better make up my mind. The good news is, I decided not to kill anyone! :) For me, in this type of setting it would only be very realistic and logical if somebody died, because for all five of them to get out alive from this situation would be very difficult. Nevertheless, let’s imagine the boys are extremely lucky and they will not die. After all, I cannot handle any tragedies myself… 
> 
> The bad news is… you better buckle up for this chapter, guys! Shit is about to hit the fan! *evil laugh*

Liam started the engine and without turning back to look at Mary standing in the doorway huddled in a thick robe he drove off, leaving the first comfortable place they had in months. The sky was painted with pink and yellowish colours, though the sun was not yet in sight. Zayn was already dozing off again in the passenger seat next to Liam. A blanket that Mary gave him was drawn all the way up to his chin to keep the cool morning air off.

Niall was sitting behind Liam, sombrely looking out the window at the passing houses and empty streets. Louis and Harry were cuddled together next to him. Louis somehow managed to lay his head on Harry’s lap and they both seemed to be already snoozing again. Niall had a detailed road map of USA on his lap, but he didn’t look at it yet. So far they were heading off towards the city of Charlotte and Liam didn’t think he’d have trouble following the road sings. The difficulty will be to decide the exact route from there. They didn’t know what places were safer and without this knowledge any road they’ll take will be a gamble.

Niall sighed and looked down at his hands on his lap. They weren’t even allowed to say goodbye to Zoey – she was still deep asleep when they left. Niall felt as if they were thrown out of the house like they had some contagious disease.

And he supposed maybe in a way they did. As far as he knew, anyone who was willing to help foreigners would be putting themselves in mortal danger. Even if Niall couldn’t fully understand it, apparently saving a little girl wasn’t going to earn them a few days more of protection. Zoey’s grandfather, even though grateful, kicked them out as soon as he could.

“Try taking a nap, Niall” Liam suddenly said, startling the blond guy from his thoughts. “I’ll wake you if I need help with directions.”

“Yeah, ok…”

Niall didn’t think he’d be able to fall asleep, but he still tried to close his eyes. To his surprise, when he opened them next, the sun was halfway up in the sky and he felt much more rested than he did before.

The sun shining brightly on his face might have woken him up, but he also heard soft, calm voice singing next to him.

“Nothing can come between Lou and I” Harry was singing quietly. “Not even the Gods above could separate the two of us…”

Niall turned his face to look at the pair. Harry had his one hand gently stroking Louis’ head and the other hugging his waist, helping Louis not fall from his lap. There was a slight smile on Louis’ lips, betraying that Louis was not asleep anymore.

Harry bent down and kissed him on the forehead and Louis opened his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment and then Louis reached out with his hand and gently stroked the side of Harry’s face.

“Looks like everyone’s finally awake” Liam said and Niall glanced over at the front of the car. Liam was still driving and Zayn, already having gotten rid of the blanket, was cradling his damaged wrist to his chest and starring out the window.

“We’re not that far from Charlotte already” Liam said. “I want to stop somewhere by the road, I need a break from driving.”

Everyone hummed in agreement and in less than ten minutes Liam found a more secluded space by the road and they stopped there. Liam parked the car a bit off the highway in between the trees and they felt relatively safe there. According to Liam, he didn’t pass many cars on the way so far.

They sat on the grass, took some food and drinks out for their breakfast and sat eating in silence. They wanted to make the food that Mary gave them to last until they reached the boarder, so they ate just a small portion each. Thankfully, they weren’t that hungry yet.

After finishing his sandwich and washing it down with water, Niall took out the map and started studying it.

“So what do you guys think?” Liam asked. “Should we avoid crossing the boarder at the Niagara Falls?”

“I think we should” Zayn said slowly. “I mean, it’s the obvious choice for people to escape and it’s a famous landmark – it’s only logical that it’ll be heavily guarded.”

“So where should we go then?” Louis asked. He was done with his meal as well and now was just leaning on Harry with his head on Harry’s left shoulder.

“I was thinking we should try the town of Olcott” Niall said still looking at the map. “It’s not that far off the Niagara Falls, but there shouldn’t be any heavy security in a small bay. We could try getting a boat or something and cross the lake with it. Toronto is just on the other side of the Lake Ontario.”

When Niall finished, Liam leaned over and took the map from his hands. Other boys leaned closer to look at the map in Liam’s hands and for a while they were quiet. But then Liam hummed softly and lifted his eyes.

“Yeah, probably not a bad idea” he said. “Might be a long sail, though… unless we find a motorboat or something like that..”

“Well, even if we don’t, we’ll row all night long if we need to” Harry said quietly. “Our lives depend on it…”

There was nothing to add to that. The boys looked over a more detailed route to Olcott and after resting a bit more, packed and went back to the car. Now Niall was driving and Liam took his place in the backseat.

City of Charlotte was not that far now and they decided to go around it and not through it. Even though on any normal day a drive from Athens to Olcott would take something like 13 hours, the boys were not moving that fast. They were trying to avoid major roads and bigger towns, going round them which took time and ate at their gasoline supplies.

They passed the west side of Charlotte in the afternoon and headed for the forest area then. Niall said there were a few National Parks on their way. At least they would have a more secluded area to stop by night and not just leave their car by the highway.

Roads were quite empty and the boys passed a few gas stations on their way. They had some money for the gas as Mary’s husband didn’t have any in the garage to give them. They knew they had to make a stop to buy it, so they were keeping an eye for a more abandoned looking gas station. One that didn’t have any customers and where owners would be just happy to get one rather than ask questions.

It was a risk, but the boys didn’t have much choice.

“Niall, slow down” Zayn said, looking to his left. “That gas station over there looks quite off the road and rather empty.”

The boys all turned to look and had to agree with Zayn.

“Should we?” Niall asked uncertainly, slowing down.

“Yeah.. yeah, I think we should” Liam said, looking at his friends.

Harry and Louis nodded, looking solemn.

“But Niall can’t go pay for it” Harry said, concerned. “He won’t come off as American with his accent.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go either” Louis said to Harry. “You’re the easiest one to recognize out of the five of us…”

“Louis you probably shouldn’t go as well, your accent gets thicker when you’re nervous. And Zayn, you…”

Liam stopped for a moment, looking uncertain.

“I know” was all Zayn said. He looked uncomfortable, but his voice didn’t carry any bitterness with it.

“I’ll go..” Liam said, preparing himself mentally.

“Just smile and nod” Louis suggested. “It’s better you don’t open your mouth at all if possible.”

Liam nodded. He took the money and put it in his pocket, smoothed his hair and tried to relax.

They drove off the road and slowly entered the gas station. It was empty, but it didn’t look abandoned. Liam and Niall got off the car and Niall started refilling the gas tank. When he was done, Liam nervously looked at him and headed inside to pay. He could see an elderly man standing by the front desk and looking at them out the window.

Liam was stepping inside, when the other boys heard a car approaching. Niall froze to the spot and stared, pleading silently that the car would just pass, but as it neared the gas station, it slowed down and then suddenly took the left turn and headed straight towards them.

Niall leaned down and looked at his other three friends sitting inside.

“What do we do?” he asked, panic heavy in his voice.

“Nothing” Zayn said harshly. “Just lean on the car and wait for Liam! Don’t look nervous!”

It was easier to say than to do it. Niall leaned on the car and crossed his hands on his chest, starring at Liam inside the shop. It looked like he was paying for the gas and didn’t see the new car approaching yet. Niall turned his head a little to look.

It was a very old looking jeep, but seemed to still be in good condition. Niall saw two burly men in the front seat – they stared right back at him.

Niall turned his head away from them sharply and whispered frantically.

“It doesn’t look good! They came after us!”

“Don’t be paranoid!” Zayn shot back harshly. “Just act natural!”

Niall wanted to swear at him.

How was he supposed to act natural standing by a stolen car and waiting for Liam to finally get the fuck out of the shop! He was shaking slightly and tried to will himself to relax, but he was getting panicky and he didn’t know how to stop it.

Louis fumbled inside the car suddenly as if looking for something.

“Where’s the gun?” he whispered frantically and that question alone made Niall go cold from his head to toes even though hot afternoon sun was blasting its hot rays down on them. Niall felt cold sweat on his forehead and wanted to wipe it, but he couldn’t move.

The jeep stopped just a few meters away from them and the two men in the front seat together with one more at the back (Niall was able to see him only now) stared right back at the boys. They were big and muscly men who probably spent more time at the gym than anywhere else. The looks on their faces were gleeful – something that made Niall even more panicky. He knew they were in serious trouble.

The men got out of the car all the time staring at the boys.

“Hey, lads! Nice ride!” one of them with short blond curls on his head said loudly and laughed.

It seemed like he didn’t expect an answer and Niall breathed just that little bit easier.

The men looked at each other for a second and the one who talked nodded to his other two friends and headed for the shop where Liam was still inside. The other two turned to look back at the boys.

“Where are ya all headin’?” asked one of the two. He was shaven bald and was dressed all in leather, even though it was a very hot day.

Niall stared at the man and tried to will himself not to tremble.

“Ya all deaf or what?” the bald one asked again, this time a note of impatience was heard in his voice.

“New York” Niall heard Louis’ voice from inside. It was high and squeaky.

“New York, eh?” The bald one said, leaning down a bit to look inside the car. “What’s the lot of you got to do in New York? Visiting some paki friends of yours?”

Niall grit his teeth, but willed himself to remain still and quiet. Zayn didn’t say anything as well.

“I asked ya a question!” the man said, raising his voice, a note of impatience clearly heard in it.

But the boys didn’t have time to answer as suddenly the shop doors opened with a bang and all of them turned towards it. The curly haired man had Liam by the arm and was forcefully dragging him back towards the two cars.

“Hey, look what I’ve got!” he shouted laughing. “One British fag! Without a permit of residence I'm sure!”

He dragged Liam towards the jeep and his other two friends grinned greedily. The bald one looked back at the boys and at the same time Louis, Harry and Zayn got out of the car.

“Please, let me go!” Liam pleaded, but his voice was weak and shaky.

“Oh no, sweetheart” the bald one leered at him. “We’ll be keeping ya!”

Just as he said that, the third of the three men who was silent the whole time opened the back door of the jeep and took handcuffs somewhere from the floor. As soon as Liam saw it, panic reflected on his face and he struggled harder to get away from the iron hold that the curly haired man had on his arm.

“Leave him alone!” Zayn shouted, seeing the handcuffs. He looked livid and ready to pounce the men five times his size.

“Make me” the curly haired one said and drew a gun from the inside of his jacket.

The boys froze and Zayn’s fists shook.

The silent one helped the curly one pull Liam’s hands behind his back and put handcuffs on him. They manhandled Liam into the backseat of the jeep harshly and Liam just managed one last desperate look at his friends when the doors were closed on him. Niall could see Liam moving to the door on the other side, but it was apparently locked and he just struggled with it inside frantically with no results.

The three men looked back at the remaining four boys cockily.

“We have space fer one more” the bald one said. “Which do ya think we want?”

He addressed his friends, but looked straight at Zayn with a smirk on his face.

“Definitely not the half-dead paki” the curly one said. “And not the blond one – looks too feeble for me!”

The quiet one nodded.

“So, the curly skeleton or the skinny rat?” the curly one asked.

“Please, let our friend go” Harry’s shaky voice startled Niall. “We’ll give you all the money we have, the car –“

The laughter of the two men cut Harry short and he just stared helplessly back at them. There was no getting through to these men – he knew it and yet he had to at least try. The thought of losing not only Liam, but Louis as well was mind-numbing.

“I say let’s take the rat” the quiet one suddenly spoke up for the first time. “At least he seems lively.”

The other two nodded and while the quiet one drew out his own gun and pointed at the boys, his two friends started approaching Louis.

Louis was trapped between Harry and Zayn on his sides and a car behind him. There was nowhere to run with two guns pointed at them and Liam locked inside the jeep. He felt fear grip his whole body and he could only stare at the approaching men.

Harry grabbed Louis arm so tightly it was painful and Louis moved closer to him, desperately clinging back to Harry. The curly one strode up right in front of Zayn and pushed him away from Louis with one strong shove while pointing a gun at him at the same time. The bald one appeared in front of Harry and Louis and grabbed Harry’s hand, trying to force him to let go of Louis.

Niall just stood there, starring in shock and not able to move. The quiet one was eyeing him suspiciously and pointing a gun right at Niall in a silent warning.

“Please, don’t” Harry begged, desperately clinging on Louis’ arm while the bald man’s iron grip was tearing them apart.

The man hit Harry on the face and Harry stumbled, but he managed to keep his hold on Louis. But the man didn’t give Harry a chance to get back his bearings. He hit Harry on the head again hard.

“Leave him alone!” Louis shouted and tried to kick the attacker, but his body was twisting in an uncomfortable angle because two people were gripping and twisting his hand and the aim of his kick was laughable. It landed on the man's shin and it didn’t even look like he felt it.

The man lifted his hand to strike Harry again and Harry suddenly turned towards him and kicked him between the legs. The man opened his mouth for a silent scream and let go of both of them immediately.

His curly haired friend laughed obnoxiously and couldn’t hide his amusement.

“Enough of this circus” the quiet one said again and the curly haired one immediately shut up. The quiet one glanced sideways to the shop and his two accomplices did that as well. They saw the old man at the register standing there and starring at them.

“Better make it quick and easy” the quiet one said lowly and his two friends nodded.

Suddenly, all amusement drained from the faces of the other two men.

The curly haired one suddenly lifted his hand and struck Zayn hard on the face. Zayn screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his nose with his hand. A few seconds later blood seeped through his fingers. Zayn breathed heavily through his mouth and looked like he was barely able to keep himself kneeling on the ground.

The bald one grit his teeth and his face distorted into a cold sneer. He grabbed Harry’s hand and pushed forward with so much force that Harry lost his footing and had to let go of Louis’ hand.

“You think ya’re such a big man?” the bald one spit the words out. Each syllable was laced with so much hatred that Harry suddenly felt cold fear numb his limbs. He pushed Harry away from the group and hit him on the face again. Then kicked Harry’s knee hard and Harry fell down with a cry of pain. The bald man finished it off with a hard punch with his elbow to Harry’s head.

Louis’ shouts of ‘stop it’ where the only sound heard through Niall’s ringing ears, but Louis couldn't move – the curly one had a gun aimed straight at Louis’ head.

The bald man grabbed a nearest fuel pump handle and pointed it straight at Harry. It took Harry just a moment to realize what was happening and for a moment he felt pure horror grip him – exactly the same body-numbing feeling he experienced while Soldiers were shooting the people at the audience in Detroit. But the last second he managed to turn his head and lift his left hand to cover his face.

The cold smelly petrol hit him just seconds after that.

“Ya little cunt” the bald man muttered full of malice.

He sprayed petrol on Harry for just a few seconds, then suddenly dropped the pump handle on the ground and took a lighter out of his pocket.

At the same time he lit it and threw at Harry the shop doors opened again with a bang and the old man came outside with a gun pointed at the three attackers.

Harry’s animalistic scream overlaid all other noise, but Niall didn’t see anything. He only realised he’s in the back of their car when his trembling fingers curled around a gun Louis had picked up that day in the car park.

There was a shot and Niall turned in time to see the curly haired man dropping on the ground and twitching, blood slowly starting to gather in the middle of his chest.

Zayn was halfway back up on his feet looking horror-stricken and staring at the scene in front of him. Louis had his shirt in his hands and was beside Harry now. It looked like Harry’s left side from his waist up was on fire. Louis, despite the flames, managed to grab Harry’s left hand and hold it and throw his shirt over the flames in an attempt to put them out.

Harry was screaming.

His voice was breaking, but the screams never stopped.

The bald man was turned towards the old shopping assistant and Niall knew the old man was already a goner.

It was all as if on autopilot.

Niall pointed a gun at the bald man and while the man fired at the shop assistant and watched him crumble to the floor, Niall pulled a trigger and a bang was heard and the bald attacker went down on the floor a few seconds later, pieces of his brain splattering all around him.

The ringing in Niall’s ears stopped and all sounds came back with a wave.

“HARRY! HARRY!” Louis was screaming. Niall saw that the flames were gone and Harry was convulsing on the ground, the left side of his face and his left hand were mangled, red meat shining in the sun.

Suddenly there was a loud band and for a second Niall thought somebody shot again, but then he heard the engine being turned on and he turned to see the quiet one at the wheel of the jeep backing off with insane speed.

“LIAM!” Zayn screamed desperately, but the quiet one was driving away already. Zayn threw himself at Niall, wrenched the gun from his hands and got in a car. Niall could only stare in shock as Zayn started the car.

“What the fuck, Zayn, no!” Louis screamed, turning in time to see Zayn driving off.

Louis got on his feet and chased after Zayn, but there was no way on earth that any man could keep up with a car.

“ZAYN YOU MOTHER FUCKER!” Louis screamed, stopping in the middle of the road out of breath.

“AHHHHHHH” Harry’s throaty scream tore Niall away from his trance.

“LOUUUUUU” Harry cried desperately like an animal, his whole body shaking from shock.

Louis turned back and stared.

He stared at Harry convulsing from pain on the floor, stared at Niall frozen to the spot, stared at the three dead bodies not far from his two friends and beside Harry’s screams of pain he heard the two cars driving off.

He also might have heard shots in the distance, but he wasn’t sure anymore.

He forced his legs to move and went back to Harry again.

Harry’s healthy hand was flailing and he grabbed it and squeezed it and didn’t let go even if it felt like Harry would break the bones in his fingers.

“It’s ok” Louis whispered but it was so quiet only he himself could barely hear it.

He stared at Harry’s mangled face distorted with pain and couldn’t move.

“Loui…” Niall said, but his pleading voice was hollow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I guess this is sort of a cliffhanger again… lol 
> 
> Comments would be greatly welcome, peeps! Hope you like this story so far! :)


	6. Chapter 6

So, that’s been quite a hiatus… Does anyone still care about this story? :D I hope you do!!! ^o^ This chapter was written in little parts throughout a few months, but recently I feel strongly I want and need to finish it. So I’m posting this little part I have now (even originally this chapter would have been much longer). And I hope to finish this this year! :) There’s something like 2-3 chapters left now!  
Let me know your thoughts! And hopefully there’s still somebody out there who was hoping for an update! <3 

 

Chapter 6

 

If somebody would’ve asked Louis how he managed to walk all the way from the petrol station far into the fields, he wouldn’t have been able to tell. He had to half-carry, half-drag Harry along who was in agonising pain and mostly unaware of his surroundings. And Niall, as far as Louis could guess, was still in shock. He just kind of trailed along with Louis, but Louis had to constantly turn back and see if Niall was still following. Harry had an iron grip on Louis’ arm with his healthy hand and was unaware of just how hard he was gripping it, cutting blood circulation and making Louis’ hand numb.  
They walked as far as possible, but it still was too close to the gas station for Louis’ liking. He knew they were very slow, so even if they walked for what felt like hours, he knew they still haven’t put a good distance between themselves and the gas station. But Harry was barely keeping up with Louis and dragging his feet over the grass, constantly stumbling, and Louis didn’t have the heart to watch Harry suffer more than he already was.  
Louis spotted a somewhat secluded patch of grass in between the thick bushes and some trees and laid Harry there. There was a bit of a shade from the thick bushes and Louis was happy that at least Harry’s burnt side was not in the sun (Louis still had not properly comprehended the fact that half of Harry’s face, neck and hand was an angry red, mangled skin now). Still, it was another hot day and Harry needed to drink water, his wounds needed to be washed and bandaged. And Louis just wanted to scream from frustration and helplessness.  
Niall sank to his knees on the grass further from Harry and just stayed there, blinking slowly and starring at his hands.  
“Fuck!” Louis started pacing in front of Harry, wiping the sweat from his face with the back of his hand, smearing Harry’s blood over his forehead. “FUCK!”  
He didn’t want to accept all of this as reality – he closed his eyes and rubbed the heels of his palms violently into them, trying to will away the horrible images engraved in his brain.  
It didn’t help, of course.  
He let his hands drop to his sides and opened his eyes.  
The grass was green and slightly dry – it hasn’t been raining for a while now. The heat of the sun was licking at his exposed neck almost painfully and the blood on his hands and shirt was quickly drying. Harry’s moans started getting louder again and they overpowered even the insistent song of the grasshoppers in the dry grass around them.  
Everything else was quiet. No police sirens or ambulance sirens, no horrified screams.  
“Lou…” Harry’s voice reached him, dry and quivering. “It hurts…”  
Louis squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, beginning any gods that would listen to make it all go away.  
But when he opened them again, the grass was still dry under his feet and a few droplets of blood fell from his fingers next to his shoes, painting the thin green blades a shade of red.  
“Niall!” Louis said loudly and firmly, startling Niall from his thoughts. Niall looked up at Louis uncertainly.  
“I’m going back to look for water and medicine and anything else we might need” he said to Niall, avoiding even glancing at Harry. “Stay next to him and don’t move anywhere, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  
“But…” Niall wanted to protest, but Louis just glared at him angrily.  
“Stay with him!” he repeated.  
“Lou, please…” Harry’s quivering voice reached him, but Louis just inhaled deeply and turned away.  
“I’ll be back soon,” he said to both of them and left.  
He couldn’t look at Harry at that moment, because he wasn’t sure he would have been able to leave him. But he had to. Harry desperately needed water and his wounds needed to be washed and bandaged, and they needed a bit of food and a fucking car. And maybe, if they were lucky, Zayn would be back as well, looking for them at the gas station.  
So he had to go. 

***

The sun was already setting down when Louis finally came back. It took him a few rounds of going back and forth to take everything they needed.  
At first he just grabbed all water and food and any medicine without checking and took all of it in the nearest bushes. He also found a few blankets and two sleeping bags, and lots of junk food.  
Then he took as much as he could carry and went back to Harry and Niall. Louis was certain that it was wiser to first get everything out of the gas station and hide it nearby, and then little by little take it back to where the boys were, so in case somebody did come to check the crime scene, they wouldn’t be able to steal anything before Louis could.  
By the time Louis brought the last things back, it was already quite dark.  
And there was no sign of Zayn.  
They put Harry on top of a sleeping bag and carefully covered him with another one. Louis found some ibuprofen and Harry swallowed six pills at once, asking for more. Louis wanted to lessen Harry’s pain, but he was no doctor and he was paranoid of making it worse. He convinced Harry that he’ll give more painkillers in an hour.  
After coming back with some of the supplies the first time, Louis left Niall with three bottles of water to wash Harry’s burns. All the boys had a few obligatory first aid training lessons before leaving on tour, but all Louis could remember now was that the wounds needed to be washed and covered with cling film. He didn’t find any of that in the gas station, so he grabbed a handful of plastic bags instead. He tore them up and gently put them over the burns. He swore he could remember from the training that the burns had to be covered, but Niall was arguing that the wounds needed to breath and Louis was torn between taking the plastic bags off and keeping them.  
At least they both agreed on one thing – that Harry needed to be kept warm.  
There was no peace that night. Harry would fall in and out of consciousness, but he never really slept, the pain was keeping him awake. He was gripping Louis’ hand with his healthy one the whole time and while he was conscious, he kept begging for more painkillers and Louis kept obliging.  
Niall half suggested to maybe give Harry to drink some vodka to make him drowsy and fall asleep, but they didn’t know if in this condition alcohol would not couse more harm than be useful, so again, they did nothing.  
When the moon was high in the sky amidst the stars and Harry’s moans grew louder yet again, Niall suddenly stood up, startling Louis.  
“I’ll go to the gas station, see if Zayn came back or not.”  
“Niall, it’s pitch black and it’s dangerous to separate ourselves!”  
“It’s not far, Louis, and I’ll be very careful,” Niall said determined. “I can’t stay here anymore, I’m…”  
He choked on his last words and fell quiet for a second.  
“Maybe Zayn’s back looking for us…” he finally said and Louis didn’t have any energy to argue.  
“Just come back, Niall, please,” he offered tiredly, looking down at his and Harry’s entwined hands.  
“I will.”  
And just like that Niall was gone.  
Louis spent the rest of the night gently caressing Harry’s healthy arm and unhurt side of his face. He kept urging Harry to drink water and gave more painkillers each hour. By the time the sun started to rise, he was feeling exhausted.  
Harry got some sleep at least which Louis was grateful for.  
Louis tried not to worry about Niall being still gone. He was already trying and failing miserably not to panic of how to get Harry to Toronto as quickly as possible. He tried to remember if there was a car at the gas station other than theirs and the attackers’ (the old man must have arrived to work somehow), but he just couldn’t remember, everything was a blur in his mind.  
Harry moaned and opened his eyes a little.  
“Hey,” Louis tried to force a smile out for him, looking down at Harry and gently stroking his chest. “How are you feeling?”  
“What do you… think,” Harry mumbled. It was hard for him to even speak – his cheek was burnt badly and it reached the corners of his mouth as well.  
“Can you swallow something for me?” Louis asked and rummaged in the pile of stuff he brought from the gas station. “I’ve got some sponge cake, you don’t need to really chew it to swallow.”  
Harry shook his head faintly, but Louis started unwrapping the pack anyway.  
“At least one bit bite, then I give you more painkillers.”  
It was a long and painful process, but Louis managed to get four whole bites of cake into Harry and then gave him some water and meds. He saw how Harry tried his best not to show how much he still was in pain and he wasn’t sure if he was grateful for the effort or burdened by it.  
Probably a bit of both.  
“We’re working on a plan to get the hell out of here,” Louis said, trying to sound as assuring as he could, even though he had no plan to offer. “We –“  
But he stopped when a noise further from them was suddenly heard. He lifted his head to try and see over the bushes, listening for more sounds.  
Somebody was walking towards them.  
Louis glanced at Harry and once reassured by the fact that Harry did not hear anything and has already closed his eyes and drifted off to half-unconsciousness sleep, Louis stood up on his tiptoes. He was incredibly relieved to see Niall’s blond head further in the distance. After a second, he saw Zayn’s dark figure lagging behind Niall.  
Something flared up in Louis so suddenly, that he just sprinted off to meet them. His hands clutched into fists by themselves and his mouth contorted in a nasty snare. When he was close enough to his friends, he ran past Niall and without any warning hit Zayn square in the face.  
“You fucking BASTARD!” Louis screamed, hovering over Zayn who fell to the ground losing his balance and just stared up at Louis, clutching his face in his hand. “How could you just leave us?! You piece of shit!”  
“Hey Lou, please,” he heard Niall behind him, but Niall kept his distance and didn’t approach Louis.  
“WHERE’S THE FUCKING CAR?!” Louis screamed, losing any composer he still might have had.  
“They shot the tire and something else inside the car,” Zayn said. “It wouldn’t turn on anymore…”  
“WELL ISN’T THAT JUST FUCKING GREAT!”  
“Lou, please,” Niall begged behind him.  
“TELL THAT TO HARRY!” Louis screamed, pointing a finger backwards where Harry was lying hidden in the bushes. “GO AND FUCKING TELL THAT TO HIM!”  
Zayn stared back at Louis dumbstruck, but Louis just seethed with rage at this point.  
“GO!” Louis screamed.  
Zayn spit the blood on the ground and stood up. He passed Louis and walked on unsteady feet towards where Louis was pointing.  
“Is Harry any better?” Niall asked meekly, scared to set Louis off again, but wanting to know about his friend.  
Louis didn’t answer, just stared where Zayn disappeared and waited. Soon though, only in a couple of minutes, Zayn re-emerged again and Louis and Niall walked to meet him midway. Zayn looked even more distressed than before. He kept avoiding looking Louis or Niall in the face and just stared somewhere to the side.  
“I’ll get us a car.”  
“How?” Louis demanded, voice hard and cold.  
“There’s one parked behind the gas station. If there are no keys, I’ll manage to turn it on.”  
He stared at the side for a few more seconds and then started walking back towards the gas station again.  
Niall looked like he wanted to say something, but just bit his lip to stop himself from speaking. Louis just stared at Zayn’s back and didn’t say a word. Then he pushed Niall forward, nodding towards the bushes.  
“Come on,” he said and Niall followed. 

***

In the end, at least something went well for them. By the time the sun was high in the sky, Harry was in the backseat of a car, their food and water and other things taken from the gas station in the trunk and they were back on the road. Niall was driving with Zayn at the passenger’s seat while Louis was sitting with Harry’s head on his lap in the back, gently stroking Harry’s hair in soothing, soft touches.  
The atmosphere was tense. Nobody was talking, but the car was filled with Harry’s wheezing breaths and moans. He was still in lots of pain and even though Louis washed his wounds and put more plastic over them before leaving, it didn’t help much with Harry’s pain.  
By the end of the evening they got closer and closer to Harrisonburg and Niall chose a route to go around it again, though this time he didn’t make a big detour – they were really pressed on time now.  
By the time the sun has set, they found a quiet and secluded place near a smaller town named Alpine nestled just right by the side of some huge National Park (neither of them even remembered the name, even though they saw it while driving past).  
Louis attended to Harry first, made him eat a little bit again and drink some water with his painkillers. They decided to sleep for four hours and then leave again. There was no time to stall and they learnt the hard way that even as careful as they were up till now, they barely got away with their lives. There seemed to be no other choice but to just make a mad dash towards the boarder and claw their way through it.  
Niall volunteered to watch them since Louis was going to drive after that, so Niall will be able to get some sleep in the car after. Louis wasn’t happy about leaving Harry with Niall in the backseat, but Zayn couldn’t drive with his swollen wrist. It got worse after his mad dash after Liam, and now it was more swollen and red than before. So there was nothing else to do.  
Sometimes it still unnerved Louis so much how such a big country could be so empty most of the time. He wondered where all the people were and then he thought about Liam, but pushed the thought aside. Guilt was eating at him, even though he knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent Liam from being kidnapped.  
He finally fell asleep watching Harry’s face, trying to put that red, swollen, angry-looking flesh to the beautiful, dimpled face of a boy he loved. 

***

They were woken by Niall gently tapping on their shoulders. Both Zayn and Louis washed their faces with water, trying to wake up. At that moment Louis berated himself why he didn’t take any cigarettes from the gas station, or any energy drinks. But the thought was dismissed as soon as it came, answer far too obvious. Who could think rationally when their lover was in so much pain?  
Louis switched places with Niall and took the driver’s seat.  
Louis had a somewhat general idea that he had to be heading towards the state of Pennsylvania. They just had to get through it all the way north and then Olcott bay would be so very close.  
It was very dark outside, but the sky was full of stars and there was almost a full moon in front of them. Still, Louis was fighting tiredness and sleepiness hard for the first hour of drive and Zayn seemed to have dozed off a few times during that time.  
They passed a couple civilian cars with what looked like families inside, but Louis’ heart fluttered madly each time he saw headlights in front of them. Zayn seemed more awake and alert after that.  
“I wish I had a smoke,” Zayn suddenly uttered, starring at the road in front of them.  
Louis gripped the wheel tighter and didn’t say anything.  
“You would have done the same,” Zayn said so quietly that Louis almost missed it. “If it was Harry instead of Liam, you would have done the same…”  
Louis stubbornly stared at the road, but his eyes suddenly filled with tears and for a moment he couldn’t even see the road. He blinked a few times and let the tears roll down his cheeks.  
“I know…” he admitted, not looking at Zayn.  
“I might never see him again…” Zayn said and he sounded broken.  
“When we get the hell out of here, we’ll make sure they look for Liam,” Louis said.  
“Who?” Zayn asked, sounding tired. “Who the hell is gonna come here willingly to look for one person when the whole country is in a state of war?”  
Louis didn’t answer anything to that for a while.  
“We have the money,” he suddenly said after a while. “There must be somebody willing to do that for a lot of money.”  
Zayn stared at Louis shocked, but then nodded to himself slowly, looking suddenly hopeful.  
“Yeah, lots of money…” he said. “At least, I hope we still do.”  
Louis didn’t say anything to that. They had no idea what was happening outside of the country, what was happening back home and in the rest of the world. He could only hope that at least back home things were not fucked up. 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, sorry for the weird formatting... I think my skills got rusty and I don't remember how to post here anymore >_<''


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an update! :) I’m so sorry it took so long, but I knew this was going to be a very slow process! The editing took very long this time, and I’m sure there still are some grammar mistakes, so sorry for that… But at least the updates are coming (that was the whole plan – to finally finish this story)! :)  
> There will most probably be one more chapter and an epilogue now! I will try not to take ages to update, so fingers crossed! Also, I know it’s all very dark and gloomy for the boys now… I wanted to include a quieter moment in this chapter, but there simply wasn’t a chance at this stage of their journey :(  
> Thank you for your lovely comments and kudos, guys! It keeps my ice queen heart warm! :D And also helps with motivation! <3  
> Right then, on to the next chapter!  
> 

 

 

 

 

Their progress was maddeningly slow.

  
It got too hot during the day to be in the car without air conditioning, so the next day they had to stop in the shade and wait out most of the day. Harry was not able to withstand the heat. His wounds were still painfully red and there was barely a hint of healing, so staying in a hot, airless, stuffy car was making it worse for him. After a short discussion they all agreed to start driving at night again.

  
They tried sleeping and each of them taking turns watching the road in the distance until the darkness fell. The air was cooler and more crisp, and even Louis, who didn’t really mind the heat, felt much better. So they packed up again, helped Harry back on the backseat of the car and drove off.

  
Zayn still couldn’t drive comfortably, so Niall took over and Zayn watched the road and everything around them. Louis had Harry’s head back on his lap and was stroking his head slowly. Harry was drifting in and out of restless sleep, tired just from having to move from the sleeping bag on the ground back to the car. The painkillers were slowly vanishing and Louis was desperately hoping they would stumble upon another abandoned store or gas station before they ran out of the meds completely.

 

“The gas is running low,” Niall suddenly spoke up, startling Louis from his thoughts.

  
“Shit,” Zayn muttered and glanced at the dashboard.

  
“Nothing to do about it, but hope we’ll find some on our way,” Louis said solemnly.

  
Silence that followed was tense.

  
“How long do you think we still have?” Louis asked.

  
“About a couple of hours, maybe three,” Niall said.

  
“Shit,” Louis swore and looked out the window, as if hoping that a gas station would just pop up somewhere in the distance.

  
“It’s not enough to even reach Pittsburgh,” Niall said.

  
“We’re not going to Pittsburgh!” Louis said angrily. “It’s a huge city and hundreds of ways for us to get caught! Also, what are the chances that anything is left in a big city by now? I think we should aim for each small town we pass and see if there’s anything left in any of the gas stations.”

  
Niall and Zayn were silent for a long moment, then Zayn glanced at Niall and nodded.

  
“I agree with Louis. Better to avoid big cities, there’s no chance in hell they’re empty.”

  
“There’s Winchester ahead of us,” Niall said.

  
“Right then, let’s hope this is our answer to the problem,” Louis said, sounding more sure than he actually felt.

  
After that they fell silent again. They passed a few cars as well, but in the darkness of the night they didn’t see who was inside, just dark shapes of people unnaturally still in their seats. People kept to themselves and the boys were happy with that. The only problem was that in the dark they also didn’t see far and might have missed gas stations on their way. Zayn was trying to look at the signs, but none of the ones they passed were directly next to the road and they didn’t want to turn off the road and risk being ambushed again.

  
When Niall could no longer look at the darkness in front of him without falling asleep, they stopped a bit off the road to have a break. They turned off the car lights as well and sat in the moonlight, backs resting on the side of the car, eating chocolate bars and crisps, and sponge cakes.

  
Harry sat leaning heavily on Louis, but he managed to eat some cake himself, albeit slowly and not without pain. He then drank water greedily and closed his eyes again, breathing heavily, as if he just ran a marathon and desperately needed to catch his breath.

  
Louis rummaged in the bag where he kept the pills and took out the last two packets of painkillers.

  
“Hey, Harry? Do you think three pills will be enough? We’re running out…”

  
“Sure,” Harry said with some difficulty. “I don’t even know if… if they’re helping.”

  
Louis took the three pills with his fingers and pressed then one by one to Harry’s lips, then he gave Harry some water to wash it all down.

  
“Are they not helping at all?” Louis asked quietly, gently caressing Harry’s back.

  
“No idea…” Harry muttered. “Still hurts badly… maybe a faction less than-“

  
Harry stopped and opened his eyes, looking straight at Louis.

  
“How many days was it since that happened?” he asked, looking bewildered.

  
“Two. Well, I suppose two and a half now.”

  
“Shit,” Harry closed his eyes again and was quiet for a moment. “Feels like it’s been so much more time…”

  
Louis didn’t have an answer to that, only kept stroking Harry’s back gently. Harry dozed off again, breathing heavily and moaning quietly from time to time. Louis guessed, with heaviness on his heart, that Harry was putting on a brave face most of the time now, and didn’t really let them know in how much pain he still was in.

  
Louis finished eating his food and had a few sips of water himself.

  
“I suppose I’ll be driving now,” he said to no one in particular. When he didn’t get an answer, he looked at Niall and Zyan. They were swallowed by shadows and night, but the moon lit their faces clear enough.  
“What is it?” he asked, when neither Zayn nor Niall said anything.

  
“There’s not much driving left to do,” said Zayn. “We’re almost out of gas.”

  
“Fuck,” Louis breathed out. He didn’t know why he was shocked. He knew they were low on petrol, but still, the reality of it running out so very soon floored him.

  
“What the hell are we supposed to do?” Louis asked no one in particular.

  
“I think we should still go to the nearest town and lay low there, see if there’s any gas anywhere, any food or meds for Harry,” said Zayn. “It’s better anyway than get stranded on the road when the gas finishes.”

  
“I suppose…” Louis said. “But Harry needs to be seen by a doctor.”

  
“At least he’s alive, no?” Zayn said, glancing at sleeping Harry.

  
Louis didn’t respond. He was angry by such attitude, but at the same time he knew it was true. If Harry’s wounds didn’t seem to be infected, Harry could manage without a real treatment. At least he was here, not like Liam.

  
“Any idea what’s the nearest town ahead of us?” Louis asked.

  
“Yeah, saw some signs for Middletown.”

  
“Well then, let’s go.”

  
Louis gently prodded Harry and helped him back into the car on the back seat with Niall and they drove off.

  
***

  
Middletown was a surprisingly small town and it sprang into existence quite suddenly. They drove through the High Street slowly looking around. But all of the windows were dark in the early morning. It was after 4am, but the sun was not yet rising, so it was still very dark. It looked abandoned and looted.

  
“I don’t like this,” muttered Louis under his breath. “Where do you suppose we should try stopping?”

  
“Maybe not in any of the houses,” Zayn said. “People might still be hiding at home, who knows.”

  
They went further ahead, but too soon it became clear, that the road was ending and the town will spit them out on the vast expanse of open fields again.

  
“Hey, try this road, turn right!” Zayn said suddenly and Louis obeyed. He turned into a Prospect Street and just a few metres ahead Zayn pointed to their right.

  
“Public Library!” he said, sounding pleased.

  
Louis stopped the car and killed the lights. He saw Niall leaning forward in the backseat and looking out the window.

  
“There’s no food and no beds in the library,” Louis said annoyed.

  
“Yeah, so nobody would go there to hide, would they?” Zayn retorted.

  
“It’s either the most stupid idea or the most brilliant one ever,” Louis said. “Niall, what do you think?”

  
Niall looked surprised for a moment, as if he didn’t expect his opinion to matter in this decision.

  
“Let’s try and see,” he said. “Maybe we won’t even be able to get inside.”

  
“Good idea,” Zayn said and got out of the car.

  
“Stay with Harry,” Louis ordered and got out of the car as well. Niall was about to protest, but Louis didn’t leave, he just kept standing next to the car, watching Zayn disappear in the distance.

  
It took Zayn only some four minutes and he was back, grinning.

  
“I found a way in and it looks completely abandoned. We’re going!”

  
They gathered the few things they had and Niall helped Harry out of the car. They followed Zayn to the back of the building and Zayn opened the door that looked to be an emergency exit. They stumbled inside and Zayn led them to the light coming from the only open door at the end of the corridor. Inside, the spacious room was lit by a white moonlight from the windows and everything was sinking in silvery shadows. But there were two sofas in one corner among a few chairs and a big table.

  
“Fucking hell,” Louis laughed happily. “A bloody staff room!”

  
They laid Harry on the sofa and covered him with one of the sleeping bags. Harry fell asleep immediately. Louis brushed Harry’s hair off his sweaty forehead and sighted.

  
“I’ll go park the car behind the building, so that nobody can see it from the road,” Zayn said and Louis nodded.

  
When Zayn came back, they closed the door, pushed the chair under the door handle and went to sleep.

  
***

  
The sun was shining straight at Louis’s face and he squinted his eyes, not wanting to wake up yet. He turned his face away from the sunlight and brought his hand to rest over his eyes.

  
“Time to wake up, pretty boy!”

  
For a moment Louis didn’t react, not understanding what he heard. But then it registered in his brain that this was a man’s voice he’s never heard before. Louis sat up quickly in panic and immediately saw a young man sitting on the table by the open window. The sun was shining behind him, plunging the man’s face in the shadows.

  
Louis extended his hand and shook Niall who was sleeping on the floor next to him.

  
“Zayn!” Louis said loudly at the same time he was shaking Niall’s hand vigorously.

  
“Oh, I didn’t mean to startle you!” the man said and hopped off the table.

  
Louis scrambled to stand up, kicking Niall in the side by accident. Niall yelped and also sat up, and finally this commotion woke Zayn, who shot out of bed the moment he saw an unfamiliar figure before him. Out of the corner of his eye Louis saw Harry stir as well.

  
“Wow, hey there, easy!” the man said, raising his hands and stopping. “I didn’t mean to scare you!”

  
“Who are you?” Louis asked, but he didn’t manage to make his voice sound steady. “What do you want?”

  
“I should be asking you this,” the man said. “After all, you broke into my hiding place.”

  
He then moved a few more steps forward and Louis could finally see him. It was a young man, probably in his late twenties. He was tall and lean, with short dark hair and a big nose. He looked unassuming, forgettable. Nothing in his features was exceptional, very appealing, or very repulsive.

  
Louis straightened up and took a step back, covering Harry with his body.

  
“Nobody was here yesterday night,” Louis said evenly, trying to assess if they were in any immediate danger.

  
“Hey look, relax, guys,” the man said. “I’m Matt. I got robbed and stranded here, so I broke into the library and stayed here while I figured out how to get to the border of Canada.”

  
“You’re going to Canada?” Niall asked surprised. “Us too!”

  
“Niall, shut up!” Louis barked.

  
“Hey, it’s alright!” Matt said in a steady voice, still keeping his hands up in front of him. “I’m trying to find a way out of here as well. If the bastards hadn’t stolen my car, I’d be there by now.”

  
“Where exactly are you heading?” Zayn asked.

  
Matt looked at him for a second, hesitating.

  
“Toronto, I got family there,” he said slowly. “Figured I’d try going since it must be much safer than here anyway.”

  
“Why wait so long to go back?” Zayn asked.

  
“I could ask you the same!” Matt retorted, smiling.

  
When Zayn just kept looking at him, Matt sighted.

  
“My town was fine, no madness at first, and I had friends there, and we stuck together. But then the Awakening Army finally reached us, people died, so it was more than a sign that it was time to go. That good enough for you?”

  
“Yeah,” Zayn nodded and seemed to relax a little.

  
“So, as I said, I’m Matt. Who are you, guys?”

  
The boys were quiet for a moment, then Niall looked tentatively at Louis and when Louis nodded, Niall introduced them one by one.

  
“Ahh, those One Direction guys, are you?” Matt asked. “I thought you looked familiar, but with all this on your face,” he gestured at Zayn and Harry, “I wasn’t sure.”

  
Zayn and Louis exchanged glances, trying and failing to communicate quietly.

  
“Your Harry there looks like he needs help or euthanasia!” he laughed at his own joke and his scratchy voice rebounded in the otherwise empty room. Matt turned around and went for his rucksack that was lying on the floor next to the table. It must have been there already when they broke in, but none of the boys saw it in the darkness of the night.

  
The boys stiffened and Zayn looked around frantically for anything that could be used as a weapon. But when Matt grabbed his bag and took something out of it, it wasn’t a gun. He held a bunch of medicine packets in his hand.

  
“I’ve got very strong painkillers and also anti-inflammatory meds. I think he should take some. Here,” he extended the medicine to Louis and after a moment’s hesitation, Louis took the offered pills.  
He looked over them and was suddenly very excited. It was what Harry desperately needed.

  
“We don’t have anything in return,” Louis heard Zayn say.

  
“Hey, I’m not asking for anything back,” Matt laughed. “Why are you so high-strung?”

  
“Why aren’t you?” Zayn asked. “You said you were robbed, but you don’t seem too upset about it.”

  
Louis watched Matt in his peripheral vision, while he took two anti-inflammatory pills and gave them to Harry, who was now sitting on the sofa and watching everything unfold with concern.

  
“I just lost a car and my gun. I’m happy to be alive and halfway to Canada!” he said. “And look, God sent you to me! It’s not all bad!”

  
“We don’t have any petrol,” Zayn said. “We’re as stuck as you.”

  
“That’s what you think!” Matt smirked. “I scouted this town for the last two days, I know where there’s still fuel left, and some food even. I’ll show you, and you let me take a ride to the Canada border!”

  
The boys looked at each other, trying to gauge each other’s reaction to this offer.

  
“Come on, I need your help!” Matt said, still smiling. “I looked everywhere and there’s no working car left, so I’m stuck! I can’t leave this town! And then you all fall from the sky! It’s like God’s will – he wants me to get back home! So please, help me!”

  
Zayn nodded slowly and Louis bit his lip. Harry was nodding as well and Niall seemed to be agreeing.

  
“We get to search your stuff first,” Luis said, looking at Matt.

  
“Sure,” Matt shrugged. “Be my guest.”

  
Louis stood and approached Matt slowly. Matt, however, didn’t feel awkward at all. He handed his backpack to Louis and even showed his pockets and his waistline – no gun or knife anywhere. Satisfied with his search, Louis gave the backpack back.

  
“So, am I approved?” Matt smiled.

  
“Yeah,” Louis said reluctantly.

  
“Great! Let’s have breakfast and we can go get the fuel!”

  
***

  
It appeared that Matt wasn’t lying. There were some houses where an odd canister or two of petrol was abandoned in the garage. One backyard of a corner shop had some fuel in a canister as well, and five abandoned cars that would not turn on where almost full of petrol. When they looted all of the places Matt showed, they ended up with quite a good amount of fuel that should easily last them until they reached the border.

  
“It’s a full day’s ride to Olcott Bay, if all goes smoothly,” Zayn said to Louis and Matt, upon finishing filling up the car with petrol. “Should we have a full night’s rest and leave tomorrow early morning?”

  
“Whatever you want, Zayn, my man!” Matt clapped Zayn on the shoulder and rubbed his dirty hands on his own jeans. “I’m gonna go inside, eat something. All this looting made me hungry!”

  
Matt winked to both of them and disappeared inside the library, where Harry and Niall were waiting. Louis turned to Zayn.

  
“I don’t trust him.”

  
“I don’t know,” Zayn said. “He seems alright.”

  
“Kind of very happy with the whole end of the world thing,” Louis frowned.

  
“Maybe it’s just the way he is, or he smokes too much pot,” Zayn said. “I think I can smell it on him.”

  
“Yeah, me too, but still…”

  
“Hey, I’m not saying to relax,” Zayn said and put his healthy hand on Louis’s shoulder. “We keep our eyes open, don’t let our guard down and we’ll be fine. Maybe he’s just… weird.”

  
Louis glanced back at the building, now sunken in the golden afternoon sun.

  
“I hope so,” he said.

  
Zayn squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and then closed the lid of the car. Zayn was careful, but he understood where Louis’s paranoia came from. And you could never be too careful. Not until they safely crossed the border.

  
“Right, well, what do we do now? Wait for the morning to come?”

  
“Yeah, let’s rest and sleep, we need to be prepared for anything,” Louis said.

  
They went back to the building and joined Niall, Harry and Matt, who already got the food out for their late lunch.

  
Louis wanted desperately to have some time alone with Harry, but it was not smart to go and stay in separate rooms. And Harry felt drowsy after taking the meds that Matt gave them. When he finished his meal, Harry immediately nodded off into a shallow sleep and Louis didn’t have the heart to disturb him.

  
They chatted for a while, but as soon as the sun set, they went to sleep. The day was long with them going from house to house, so they needed rest, and then they would wake up very early and leave to what would hopefully be their last stretch of the road.

  
***

  
Harry’s head was in Louis’s lap – the only place it belonged, if anyone asked Louis. He wasn’t sleeping. His eyes were bright and clear from pain for the first time. Harry was looking at Louis, a very slight smile lingered at the corners of his lips.

  
Louis traced Harry’s dimple with a finger gently.

  
“We lost one,” he said and Harry frowned in confusion. “We lost one of your dimples.”

  
“Oh,” Harry said, not sure what to say to that.

  
Louis leaned down and pecked the one on Harry’s right cheek.

  
“I guess we’ll have to take extra good care of this one then,” he said.

  
Zayn’s groan reached them and Louis straightened up to look at Zayn, wedged at the other end of the back seat, holding Harry’s legs with his healthy hand.

  
Niall was driving and Matt was sitting in the front seat, watching the road.

  
Louis looked back down at Harry and smiled. Louis was so relieved to see Harry finally be relaxed and not in so much pain. Whatever painkillers Matt had, they were bloody strong. Harry’s face still looked like an open wound, but it was clean and didn’t look infected, so Louis consoled himself with the thought that perhaps in the next 10 hours they would finally reach Toronto and Harry would get some real help.

  
Matt appeared to be very useful in the end. He kept directing Niall to the side roads in order to avoid bigger cities and not go through them. The first time he pointed at a small diversion, the boys hesitated. But Zayn looked at the map and just nodded for Niall to drive. They barely met any passing cars at all and Matt’s directions seemed to do miracles.

  
So they drove through all the lesser used roads and hours went by, and they were still alive. And Louis found himself for the first time in many days feeling very hopeful.

  
After the first five hours of uninterrupted driving, they stopped off the road to have a break and to eat.

  
“Who’s going to be driving now?” Niall asked, chewing stale dry breakfast cereal straight from a box.

  
“There’s not much choice,” Louis said, looking regretfully at Harry.

  
He would have loved to stay with Harry on his lap. But Zayn couldn’t drive and even though Matt proved to be very useful, he still was mostly a stranger. So after a short break, Louis and Niall switched places. But as soon as they got back on the main road, they saw two big trucks, looking very similar to the ones the boys saw carrying people.

  
“Shit, what do we do?” Louis panicked. He was already driving and he couldn’t just turn back – it would look suspicions. And even if he did, there was nowhere to hide, just fields of grass and flowers.

  
“Just keep on going,” Matt said calmly. “If you act like you belong, they will not stop you. That’s how I made it so far.”

  
Louis gripped the steering wheel tightly and looked ahead. His palms started sweating and he desperately wished to wipe them on his thighs, but he was scared to let go of the steering wheel.

  
They hadn’t passed the Awakening Army’s men yet, just civilians and Louis didn’t feel like he could keep his cool if they were stopped by the red soldiers.

  
The trucks were getting closer and they seemed to slow down. Louis accelerated without realising he did so, and he heard Niall stifle a nervous groan in the back. Just as they were nose to nose, Matt raised his hand in greeting and smiled widely.

  
“Great harvest, guys!” he shouted. The men in the trucks also had their windows down and, Louis gathered, they could just about hear Matt.

  
Matt raised his thumb up and the man in the truck’s driver’s seat nodded at him.

  
All of this interaction took barely a few seconds, just as long as it took for the three cars to pass each other, but for Louis it felt like a lifetime. As soon as the back of the second truck disappeared behind them, and he could watch them getting smaller and smaller in his mirror, Louis exhaled.

  
“That was mental,” Zayn said from the back and leaned forward to look at Matt. “The fuck you did that for?”

  
“I’ve seen plenty of them by now,” Matt said. “I know how to act. How do you think I survived this long?”

  
Matt looked back at Zayn and smirked.

  
“They’re not about to stop every single car in their path or they’d never get anywhere. But they’ll surely stop for the nervous idiots who all have guilt written all over their faces.”

  
“That was brilliant!” Niall laughed and his voice sounded so light.

  
“Louis, breathe,” Matt said.

  
Louis exhaled and then took a shuddering breath in.

  
“Fuuuuuck,” he said and laughed. “I can’t fucking believe it!”

  
They were in a much better mood after that. Niall even hummed quietly to himself. They still passed a few cars on their way, but those were civilian cars and the boys didn’t feel even half as scared now as they were. They didn’t let their guard down, but they were feeling more hopeful with each kilometre they covered and left behind.

  
“Turn here,” Matt said when Louis reached an intersection.

  
“But this road is too close to the city.”

  
They were so close to the bay now. They were just about to reach Buffalo, but were aiming to go around it in as wide a berth as they could.

  
“Yes, but if you turn to the side road on the right, we might hit a dead end.”

  
“There’s no dead end on the map,” Zayn said.

  
“Yes,” Matt turned to look at Zayn with the map and Harry’s legs on his lap. “But that road leads directly straight to Olcott Bay, and all the possible escape routes from the country are blocked.”

  
“What makes you think this main road will not be blocked?” Zayn asked.

  
“Because it’s not the main road and it will let us get as close to the bay as possible. Then we’ll figure out how to sneak through any soldiers guarding the border. But it’s best our road gets blocked closer to the bay and not while we’re still an hour away from it.”

  
Louis hesitated, but the road ended and suddenly split in two, and he had to make a decision. He turned left, feeling uneasy. He did want to use the road that led straight for the Bay, but then wouldn’t that be the obvious route anyone would take?

  
Zayn didn’t say anything as well, and Matt patted Louis’s shoulder.

  
“We’re almost there,” he said and his voice sounded wishful and very pleased.

  
For a moment Louis felt like he was doused with cold water, but the feeling passed and he cursed inwardly.

  
He was getting paranoid. That is, even more paranoid than he already was.

  
He glanced at Zayn in the mirror and Zayn caught his eye. He nodded to Louis once and looked back down at the map.

  
Louis exhaled slowly and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

  
***

  
At first they passed houses that looked abandoned, empty streets with no cars and people. But the further they went, the houses became a less frequent occurrence and soon they vanished from sight altogether. The boys passed green fields and some rivers, and it was all very quiet.

  
Then the trees started growing thicker. The road finally ended and Louis turned right, driving east for a bit until he was able to get back on a new road leading north to the Bay again.  
“What is that?” Zayn asked, suddenly disturbing the quiet.

  
Louis glanced at him in the mirror and then followed Zayn’s gaze. He was looking at their left, far away it was hard to say what it was, like a river but of a different colour. It was too far to see and then suddenly the trees got thicker again, blocking their view.

  
It was then that Louis suddenly had a very bad feeling. He looked around, looked at Zayn, starring ahead intently, at Niall looking curious, but unconcerned, at Harry whose face was obscured by the seat and only his burnt hand was visible resting on his stomach.

  
Then the trees parted once more, giving way to the fields again and a big farmhouse came into view right in front of them. There were Awakening Army’s trucks parked on both sides of the farmhouse and a big wired border barrier with ‘CAUSION HIGH VAULTAGE’ sighs stretched as far as the eye could see.

  
Louis slammed the breaks and the car screeched to a stop, everyone was thrust forward without their seatbelts on. The dust settled and Louis breathed heavily. And in that brief moment of confusion and surprise, Matt grabbed the car keys, yanked them out, and jumped out of the car.

  
A quiet ‘beep beep beep’ of an open door indicator went off and a breeze came through the open door, ruffling Louis’s hair.

  
Harry sat up in the back seat and they all stared ahead, for a moment at a total loss, watching Matt walk towards the running soldiers who had guns raised at the ready.

  
Matt said something, but the words were lost to the distance, only the tone of his voice carried.

  
It sounded happy.

  
“What do we do?” Louis asked, staring at the empty key slot helplessly.

  
At the same time three soldiers with guns were already past Matt and were approaching the car.

  
“What do we do?” Louis raised his voice, his hands trembling on the steering wheel.

  
But nobody had an opportunity to answer as the soldiers were suddenly upon them, aiming guns at their heads and shouting at them to get out of the car. The boys obeyed, dazed and disoriented at this sudden turn of events.

  
The soldiers were young, all with shaved heads, all muscular, all looking excited.

  
“Move,” one of them said, gesturing for the boys to walk forward.

  
They obeyed, leaving the car behind them and walking side by side.

  
“That’s enough, stop!” another one shouted and the boys obeyed.

  
Then it was quiet as soldiers eyed them, lowering their guns just a fraction.

  
“Where were you?” the first one asked and the boys looked at each other puzzled, but then Matt appeared next to the soldiers, grinning.

  
“I got fucking robbed!” he laughed. “My entire shit was stolen with the car – my guns, uniform, food, papers! These lovely boys gave me a ride to the post!”

  
He grinned, looking at Louis and Zayn, twirling the car keys on his index finger.

  
“They’re trying to cross the border,” he said, looking at his fellow soldiers. “I thought we could offer them a deal.”

  
One of the soldiers looked back at Matt, looking suddenly interested and lowered his gun completely.

  
“What do you think, Jake,” Matt said, looking at his colleague. “Which one?”

  
Jake looked at the boys and a sly smile pulled at the corners of his lips.

  
“The blond one is cute,” he said and licked his lower lip subconsciously.

  
The boys stared, colour draining from their faces.

  
“You asshole!” Louis spat, seething. Matt just smiled back.

  
“Thanks for the ride. But I’m afraid I wasn’t very honest with you, I only needed a ride to one of the border stations. The bad news is – the entire bay is warded off with an electric border fence and patrolling soldiers. So there’s no way for you to cross. Unless…”

  
Matt grinned again and looked at Jake.

  
“Unless you provide us with service and we let you go. We’ll open the gate and wish you all the best!”

  
The boys stared lost for words.

  
“You can turn back and walk, we’re not taking any prisoners,” Jake said. “Too much fucking trouble and such a waste of food. But, you know, you suck a few cocks, you bend over and in a couple of hours you can keep going on the other side of this lovely fence.”

  
He gestured with his hand behind him.

  
“So, what do you say?”

  
Louis clenched his hands into fists, breathing heavily. He felt Zayn tremble with anger next to him, and Harry breathing heavily through his mouth, Niall holding on to his arm tightly.

  
“How do we-“ Louis started, then his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “How do we know you’ll keep your end of the deal?”

  
“Lou!” Harry’s voice echoed in the quiet desperately, but Louis didn’t look at him.

  
“You can’t,” Matt said. “But unless you want to walk back the way we came, you’ll have to risk it.”

  
“We’ll even let you keep the car,” Jake laughed. “Or we’ll have to explain to our superiors during the check up this week where we got his shit from!”

  
“You’ll let us all go?” Louis asked, looking at the other guy, Jake. He seemed to be in charge here with Matt probably being just slightly lower in rank.

  
“Yes, sweetheart,” Jake leered. “After all my soldiers get to bend you over, you’re free to go.”

Louis swallowed the lump in his throat, steeling himself.

  
“Alright,” he said, his voice shaky.

  
“No, Louis!” Harry cried and lunged at him, grabbing Louis’s arm. But Louis yanked his hand free and stepped forward.

  
“We want the blond one as well,” one of the other two guys who’ve been quiet so far spoke.

  
Louis chanced at look at Niall – he was pale and trembling, and looked like he would crumple on the ground any second.

  
“If you want him to vomit all over you, you can,” Louis said and the guy grimaced in disgust. “He has no stomach, he’ll cry the whole time and get snot all over your cock.”

  
“Fuck that,” the soldier spit at Niall’s direction. Louis didn’t need to convince him further – Niall already looked like he might throw up any second.

  
“I’ll go,” Zayn said and stepped forward, standing next to Louis.

  
“My boys will be very happy,” Jake smiled pleased.

  
“What’s wrong with your nose?” the soldier asked, clearly worried about vomit and snot now.

  
“Broken, but it’s not bleeding anymore,” Zayn said drily and the soldier nodded.

  
“Come then,” Jake gestured. “We’ll leave the two of you,” he nodded to Niall and Harry, “outside to keep an eye on your car while we have some fun inside.”

  
“Louis, please,” Harry asked, his voice sounding desperate and panicky. But Louis didn’t look back at him.

  
They were marched to the house while Matt went back to the car and drove it to the gate, parking it there. He took the keys out and jiggled them happily. Niall glared at him with all the hate he could muster.  
“You can stay by the car, not inside it” Jake said to Niall and Harry. “Somebody will keep an eye on you.”

  
There were soldiers by the gate and soldiers further down the field, marching back and forth next to the electric fence. Some soldiers went out of the house to watch the happenings with open curiosity. This post was probably so remote that not much happened here.

  
“Come on, then,” Matt said, looking at Louis, his eyes traveling from Louis’s face down to his crotch and then further down his legs.

  
“Lou…” Harry pleaded, but Louis turned back at looked straight at Niall.

  
“Do not let him out of your sight!” he said to Niall and Niall nodded. “Stay with him!”

  
With that, Louis and Zayn walked away and up the steps inside the farmhouse, soldiers parting on the porch to let them pass. Some of them were stroking their cock through their pants already, looking expectantly at the boys’ retreating backs.

  
Harry slumped on the ground, his back resting on the car, and put his face in his hands.

  
Niall sat next to him and took Harry’s healthy hand in both of his.

  
They listened to the birds chirping, the gravel crunching under the patrolling soldiers’ feet, the wind in the trees.

  
Until these weren’t the only sounds heard anymore.

 

TBC

 


End file.
